An earlier version of this posting incorrectly stated that state police are still investigating.
Police were called to an early voting site in Anthony on Saturday after poll workers alleged that activists were coaching voters and activists alleged that poll workers were intimidating voters.
Doña Ana County Elections Supervisor Lynn Ellins said Saturday’s incident was the first time police have been called to a polling place since early voting began. It’s the first major conflict in the county over the state’s new voter identification law.
The law, which went into effect this year, requires voters to provide written or verbal statements attesting to their name, year of birth and last four digits of their social security number, or to provide a physical form of identification. That could include an original or copy of a current photo identification card with or without an address, a utility bill, bank statement, government check or other paycheck, student identification card, other government document that shows name and address, or an identification card issued by an Indian tribe.
A group of south-county activists have been banding together to rent limousines and drive voters to the polls since the 2004 election. On Saturday, voters met at a location off Highway 478 and were then driven to the Anthony Community Center, 875 N. Main Street, to vote.
Arturo Uribe, an organizer with the N.M. Progressive Alliance for Community Empowerment, said the group made three trips to vote on Saturday. He said poll workers asked voters for identification, and those who opted to give verbal statements were asked for full social security numbers, rather than the last four digits the law allows.
Victor Montoya, one of those who voted Saturday, said several people in front of him in line, including his wife, were asked for their full social security numbers and complied. When his turn came around, he said he also complied, but spoke in a low voice because he felt uncomfortable.
The male poll worker he dealt with asked him to speak up. Montoya said he again complied, but someone further back in line said he heard Montoya’s social security number and asked the poll worker why he was requiring that in contradiction to state law.
Montoya said he “freaked” when he realized others heard him recite his social security number, and also began demanding to know why he had to give the full number. He said the male poll worker and a female presiding judge both told him several times, “That’s how it is,” and said the woman told him to “shut up.”
When the poll workers threatened to call police, Montoya said, he gave his full number again, took his ballot, and entered a booth to fill it out, but not before saying to the poll workers, “Why are we in Iraq when you Nazis won’t let us vote in our own country?”
While he was in the booth, Montoya said, the male poll worker entered it and tapped him on the shoulder. The worker told him he had Jewish heritage and was offended by the “Nazi” remark.
“I said, ‘Well, my grandfather was Jewish, and you’re still a Nazi,’” Montoya said.
The worker left the booth and said he was calling the police, Montoya said, so he quickly finished voting and left.
Uribe was not present on that trip, but said he went with the group for the third trip.
Uribe claims he asked for the names of all the poll workers present so he could record their activity and report what had happened. Though poll workers wear name tags, Uribe said, the presiding judge covered her name tag and told him to leave or she would call the police. Uribe said he sat down and told them to go ahead.
Sheriff’s deputies arrived first, but Uribe and another activist, Mitch Boyer, said they requested state police be called instead because Sheriff Todd Garrison is up for election.
State police were called.
Uribe said a state police officer provided him with the names of the poll workers after first escorting him out of the building to talk, then offered to escort him back in to the building to vote. Uribe said he wasn’t interesting in voting with a police escort, so he left.
Capt. Richard Williams with the New Mexico State Police said officers were called to the polling site and “mitigated the argument,” but said that was the extent of their involvement.
Resolution of the situation is now in the hands of Ellins and his staff.
Doña Ana County spokesman Jess Williams said there are allegations on both sides: that voters were intimidated by poll workers, but also that they were being coached by others who came into the building, though he did not name Uribe, Boyer or anyone else.
Williams said there is also an allegation that one potential voter was asked to provide photo identification.
Ellins said poll workers are trained to ask, “Do you have some identification?” If voters opt to provide verbal identification, Ellins said workers are trained to comply with state law and ask for their name, year of birth and the last four digits of their social security number.
Uribe said he believes the poll workers were intentionally “making it difficult for people to vote… to the point that people were just giving up and leaving.” He said several people left without voting.
Boyer said the situation was discouraging.
“Some were first-time voters and this was a very bad experience for them,” he said. “When there are 10-15 people present and they’re asking for you to announce your full social security number, that’s not right.”
Montoya, a Democrat, said the poll workers doing the intimidating are Republicans who have worked the Anthony polling location for years. He said one required his wife to provide voter identification in 2000, long before the new state law.
“They think they can do what they want because we’re just a bunch of dumb Mexicans, but we’re not going to take it any more,” Montoya said.
Montoya said he, his wife and several others are putting together affidavits attesting to what they say happened. The group is meeting Tuesday with Ellins to share concerns about what happened.