Democratic Party chair: County elections task force ‘is not apolitical but it is bipartisan’

(Note: On Tuesday I criticized Melinda Whitley, chair of the Democratic Party of Doña Ana County, and others for politicizing the county’s elections task force. You can read that posting by clicking here. I invited Whitley to respond. This is her unedited reply.)

Dear Heath:

Thank you very much for allowing me the opportunity to respond to your blog which discussed my e-mail to certain members of the Democratic Party of Doña Ana County.

First of all, my basic reason for writing the e-mail was a feeling that, having attended the first public meeting which was dominated by Republican speakers, with only one Democrat addressing the panel, unless we heard some comments from people representing different points of view, our report to the County Commission would necessarily reflect an incomplete picture. Almost never are things either black or white, and I felt that the Clerk’s Office was being unfairly painted entirely black to that point.

I disagree with Mr. Goddard’s characterization of our election process as a “mess.” The vast majority of citizens of Doña Ana County have experienced no problems with regard to their voting experiences. They make sure they know where to go to vote, they are not harrassed about identification, and their votes are properly counted. It is true that some voters have had some troubles. It is likewise true that some aspects of the election process could stand a lot of improvement; however, I do not believe there has been a single substantiated complaint of voter fraud filed by either our state or federal prosecutors, and if there has been, I would like very much to receive a copy of such complaint. There have been mistakes made, and it is my understanding that our mandate as a panel is to identify problem areas and make recommendations to rectify them. Certainly this is my goal.

The last time the Republicans won the office of County Clerk by general election was when Ms. Bernice Bowden was Clerk. Over the years the office has been overwhelmingly held by Democrats (just as I believe the County Treasurer’s office has been mostly held by Republicans). It is true that Rita Torres has health problems which may have adversely impacted her performance during her current term. This does not equate with a characterization of total incompetence, nor, as you pointed out, was the panel charged with addressing her personal problems. I never accused the Republicans of participating in a “conspiracy,” but I know that a total discreditation of the present Clerk’s Office would undoubtedly serve their best interests.

The mere fact of an office-holder’s being a Republican or a Democrat does not make that person a political “hack,” and I have never said so, nor do I think that the Sheriff or District Attorney are “hacks.” I do believe the Las Cruces Sun-News is strongly slanted toward Republican views, and that it is a potentially dangerous situation when the investigative and prosecutorial entities in a county are all of the same political party. I would think the same thing if we had a Democratic DA and Sheriff, and all we read about were Republican misdeeds. There’s no question about the misbehavior of some of our elected officials and candidates, but it would be hard to convince me that all Republican office-holders and candidates have lived absolutely spotless lives – but except for Mr. Schoonover’s misstep with his pencils, we don’t see their mistakes plastered over the front page of the newspaper. Most certainly I do not blame the Republicans for Democrats’ behavior – we make plenty of mistakes on our own account, thank you!

The fact that both the Republican and Democratic Chairs were automatically appointed to the elections panel is an indication that the County Commissioners knew that there was a huge potential for politicization of that panel, and there needed to be as balanced a representation as possible. The panel is not apolitical but it is bipartisan. There is a standard jury instruction which points out that “There are at least two sides to every lawsuit.” There are at least two sides to the issues being considered by the elections panel also, and my e-mail was an attempt to encourage people to present another side.

Very truly yours,

Melinda S Whitley

Chair

Democratic Party of Doña Ana County