Sen. Pete Domenici has joined the chorus of Republicans upset that the state won’t hire an independent auditor to canvass the Nov. 7 general election.
The Secretary of State’s Office says there isn’t enough time. It claims it only received two bids, and neither met the requirements.
But Domenici says otherwise, according to the Albuquerque Journal.
“What is lacking is the political will,” he said.
I happen to have knowledge that there would have been at least one additional bidder, but the group didn’t receive a response to several questions it asked the Secretary of State’s Office as it prepared a proposal.
The deadline for submitting questions in regards to the request for proposals was Oct. 12. Despite submitting several questions, and following up by phone more than once, the group never received a response, though the RFP required the state to respond to questions. Because it couldn’t get answers to its questions, the group didn’t submit a proposal before the Oct. 20 deadline.
What’s that all about? Was there some sort of miscommunication? Did the Secretary of State’s Office not receive the questions for some reason? Did a response from the Secretary of State’s Office get lost in the mail? Did the office’s phone system have problems that caused it to not receive messages or faxes?
Or was it, as some suspect, that the secretary of state never intended to hire an outside audit firm?
It’s hard to say, but it’s easy to see why Domenici and others are suspicious.
“All New Mexicans, whether Democrats, Republicans, members of the Green Party, independents, every last voter in New Mexico must have confidence that their votes are going to count,” Domenici said. “I would respectfully request that the secretary of state immediately commit to an open and transparent state canvass with the media and interested parties in attendance.”
According to the Republican Party, “it has long been the tradition of the secretary of state’s office to hire outside auditors to make sure the final count is as nonpartisan, open and honest as possible.”
Regardless of whether that’s true, this isn’t the time to back out on a previous commitment to hire an outside auditor. We’re switching to a new system. Polarization is on the rise. Tensions are high.
And at least one group preparing a proposal to do the job didn’t get the opportunity to submit it. Why?