This article has been updated.
Despite what
How many people is the question. And that has some worrying that the people who don’t get to vote could be the difference in a close race.
“Here we are at the very place we hoped and prayed we would not be,” said Mark Van Dyke, chairman of the Republican Party of Doña Ana County. “Here we are.”
The county says a “clerical error” was to blame for a Monday news release stating that 633 people who requested absentee ballots had not yet voted. In reality, the county said today, the number is 3,844.
The county now says 11,985 absentee ballots were requested and, as of this morning, 8,141 of the people who requested ballots had voted either absentee or in person during early voting.
“The two words you don’t want to hear from your Bureau of Elections on Election Day are ‘clerical error.’ And I’m not trying to be glib about that, because I’m really frustrated,” Van Dyke said. “At this late date, that’s a lot to have out.”
It’s certain that many of those ballots will be returned today. Mario Jimenez, acting supervisor of elections, said another 300 had been hand-delivered this morning and he expects many more to arrive today. He also believes many people who haven’t received their ballots will vote in person at their polling places today.
But those who aren’t in the military and live elsewhere in the
There has been widespread concern about absentee ballots in Doña Ana County since it was learned on Friday that the county didn’t comply with a law requiring that absentee ballots be mailed out within 24 hours of the office receiving requests for the ballots. Some Republicans charged that 3,000 to 5,000 ballots weren’t mailed out until Friday and that thousands of voters might be disenfranchised. The county maintained that those numbers were exaggerated and the problem was much less severe.
Alternate ways to vote
The county has worked, along with other groups, to emphasize alternate ways to vote for those who hadn’t received their absentee ballots, and that remains the case today.
Carter Bundy, a member of the nonpartisan group Election Protection representing the New Mexico Federation of Labor, urged people who have requested but not received absentee ballots to head to their polling place, where they will be able to vote in person. Those who receive their ballots today can fill them out and hand-deliver them to the clerk’s office or their polling place before the polls close, or they can choose to instead vote in person at their polling place.
“The main thing now is to mitigate the damage as much as possible and to make sure as many people vote as can,” said Bundy, who by way of disclosure is also a columnist for this site.
Brian Colón, chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico, said the same thing.
“It’s critical voters know that if they have not received their absentee ballot, they can still vote today until 7 p.m. at their polling location,” he said. “If voters have received their ballots, they have until 7 p.m. tonight to drop them off at their polling location or their county clerk’s office.”
Colón said those with questions can contact the Democratic Party at (877) NM-CHANGE or nm.voteforchange.com.
In addition, military personnel stationed anywhere and any registered voter in
How many?
Van Dyke said he’s focused today on urging those who haven’t received absentee ballots to vote in person. But he’s also thinking about how many can’t or won’t do that.
“Even if it’s one in four, you’re looking at almost 1,000 voters,” Van Dyke said. “Besides disenfranchisement, which appalls me… this is 1,000 votes, which in this county, could very well be the margin in just about every race. It’s not inconceivable that the presidential race could be within 1,000 votes.”
Van Dyke added that the staffers in the Bureau of Elections “are working with the same tremendous effort and integrity that they always do.” However, he said, “management really drives the bus, and they drove off without a few voters this time.”
Several Democratic and Republican campaigns said they are watching the situation closely, but didn’t comment further.
Update, 5:50 p.m.
Click here to listen to my interview with KRWG-FM’s Evan Woodward about this.