Some polls open late when workers don’t show up

A number of polling places in Doña Ana County opened late this morning because workers didn’t show up.

That happened despite that fact that elections bureau staff confirmed with poll workers as recently as Monday that they would work today, said county spokesman Jess Williams.

County staffers were sent to open some polling places, and some election challengers from the Democratic and Republican parties were recruited at the last minute to be poll workers. All polling places were open fairly quickly after problems were identified, Williams said.

“We’re up and running,” he said.

County Republican Party Chair Sid Goddard wasn’t pleased.

“It may not be as bad as the primary, but it sure as heck hasn’t completely gone away,” he said of elections problems.

Goddard said the phones at the party’s headquarters began ringing at 6 a.m. and haven’t stopped. He said voters from Sunland Park were showing up to vote in La Union because their polling place in Sunland Park wasn’t open.

County Democratic Party Chair Melinda Whitley said she made a call to the county shortly after 7 a.m. to report that a polling place in La Mesa wasn’t open, but the county was already aware of it and a worker was en route to open the site.

“This is, of course, a horrible problem, and I can’t understand why people wouldn’t show up,” Whitley said.

Whitley said one Democratic challenger was recruited to be a poll worker at Valley View Elementary School in Las Cruces. She said the party is willing to do “anything to help and get this done right.”

Williams said an ink cartridge in a machine needed replaced at one polling place. While that is being done, voters are filling out emergency ballots that will be fed into the machine once the work is complete.

There were also successes. One voter reported to me that he was the first to arrive at his Mesilla Park polling place at 6:50 a.m. He said there were 10 people in line by the time the polling place opened about 7 a.m., and he voted without a problem.

There were some last-minute antics as well. Republican House candidate Scott Witt awoke this morning to find that all signs for his campaign in his neighborhood had been torn out of people’s yards – including his own – and tossed into the street.

“That’s so infantile,” Whitley said, adding that Democratic sheriff candidate Ralph Misquez also reported that two large signs had been knocked over.

I’m heading out to visit a number of polling places. I’ll let you know what I find.