Fired Doña Ana County Elections Supervisor Mari Langford responded today for the first time to her termination.
Her comments come the day after the county issued a statement saying she was fired both for poor job performance and allegations of personal misconduct. It’s unusual for governments to release such information about personnel matters.
“According to popular perception, the quality of an election administrator’s job performance ultimately translates into whether Election Day runs smoothly, with few complaints,” Langford said in a written statement. “I found it was much more than that. It was about being available to the citizens of the county and assisting them by meeting their needs without compromising the integrity of the law. Elections were improving steadily, particularly federal and state ones, and I was excited about facing the future challenges regarding new voting equipment and training the public and poll workers in their use. I will miss managing elections.”
“The allegations of personal misconduct are just that, allegations,” Langford said. “They are unproven and based almost exclusively on rumors and faulty assumptions.”
Langford was given notice of intent to terminate and placed on administrative leave at the end of June, and officially fired on July 3.
For now, Chief Deputy Clerk Cecilia Madrid is in charge of the elections bureau.
The county clerk’s office has been under fire since the primary election earlier this month. Though there were fewer problems than in past elections, there were still issues with polling places and workers, prompting commissioners to issue harsh criticism of the clerk’s office and form a task force to study the election and make recommended changes for future elections.