New Mexico to check troubled voting equipment

Associated Press - March 21, 2008 5:05 PM ET

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) - Problem-prone memory cards used in voting machines across New Mexico are being recalled to make certain they're working properly in preparation for the June primary election.

The cards hold ballot information and are necessary for vote tabulators to operate. However, a number of county clerks have reported card failures and they have been forced to use backup cards to keep voting machines in service during elections. Voters feed their paper ballots into the tabulators at polling places.

Secretary of State Mary Herrera ordered a recall of the cards in an e-mail sent Thursday to the 33 county clerks.

An Omaha-based company - Election Systems & Software - is New Mexico's sole supplier of the voting machines and their memory cards.