Don Francisco Trujillo
Deputy Secretary of State Don Francisco Trujillo has been appointed to serve as state elections director, Secretary of State Mary Herrera announced this afternoon.
Trujillo served as interim Bureau of Elections Director in 2008 and again in early 2009.
“Don Francisco Trujillo has shown that he can run a good election, and that’s what we’re going to have in 2010 with him at BOE,” Herrera said in a news release.
Trujillo’s appointment is effective immediately. He replaces A.J. Salazar, who alleged two weeks ago that Herrera is violating the Governmental Conduct Act and elections law in his resignation letter. Salazar has alleged that there are “elements of corruption” in the Secretary of State’s Office – those elements being Herrera and Trujillo.
Among Salazar’s allegations is that Herrera ordered exempt employees to collect signatures for her re-election bid at a meeting held during work hours, that she was improperly soliciting donations from contractors doing business with the office to help fund a training, and that she retaliated against him after he tried to stop those potentially illegal actions.
Salazar has turned his allegations over to the attorney general, who is looking into the situation.