Secretary of State Dianna Duran
After months of investigating, Secretary of State Dianna Duran has notified the attorney general that her office has identified at least two foreign nationals who were illegally registered to vote, but she says neither appears to have intentionally committed a crime.
In both cases, the foreign nationals learned that their registration was illegal when they applied for U.S. citizenship. With their illegal registrations impeding their applications for citizenship, both voluntarily requested that their names be removed from the voter rolls.
One of the two has illegally voted in a number of elections.
In addition, Duran wrote in her Thursday letter to Attorney General Gary King, her office has investigated a number of instances in which people who obtained driver’s licenses using foreign national credentials are registered to vote. That “creates significant concern that they were non-citizens at the time they registered to vote,” Duran wrote.
And her office has identified a number of registered voters who checked “no” in response to the registration form’s question about whether they are U.S. citizens.
Duran wrote that she’s awaiting direction from King. Her chief of staff told NMPolitics.net the investigation is ongoing.
‘A comprehensive statewide effort’
The letter to King is the result of months of investigation by Duran’s office. In March, Duran told a legislative committee her office had matched 117 voter registrations to people in the MVD foreign national database and had evidence of 37 foreign nationals illegally voting in elections.
This is the same investigation I’ve been trying to scrutinize for months by attempting to obtain the records Duran’s office analyzed before coming to its determination that it had evidence of foreign nationals illegally voting. In the course of that investigation, I’ve accused Duran’s office and the Taxation and Revenue Department of multiple violations of the Inspection of Public Records Act.
I’m still awaiting a response from the Taxation and Revenue Department on a records request related to the investigation. Read the latest here.
Duran wrote in a Friday letter to county clerks that her office is “sending letters to a number of individuals who appear to have irregularities in their voter information” and said her office “will be asking that they complete new registration applications.”
“…one of our goals at the SOS has been to initiate a comprehensive statewide effort that will ensure integrity in our electoral system,” Duran wrote to the clerks. “Among the procedures to be followed will be the correction of voter files, verification of voter registration, and the identification of ineligible voters.”
‘There may not have been any intent to violate the law’
In her letter to King, Duran didn’t identify the two individuals who had illegally registered to vote. But she provided details about their situations.
The first, a man, went to Duran’s office identifying himself as a legal resident but a non-citizen. He said his employer encouraged him to register in 1998. He didn’t believe he was eligible, Duran wrote, but one of his employers brought him a form already filled out with his personal information. He signed it and has voted in almost every local, state and federal election since.
The second person identified by Duran’s office registered to vote but hasn’t voted. Duran wrote that the woman “was apparently pressured by a third party to register, although she was uncertain as to her eligibility.”
Both ran into problems when they applied for citizenship. The first went to his county clerk’s office to ask to be removed from the voter rolls and went to the Secretary of State’s Office to explain his situation. Duran said he is a 22-year employee of a county government and the primary financial supporter of his family, and he “now faces concerns that he could be prosecuted or deported.”
“Based upon his statements and his voluntary visit to attempt to address the violation of the law, it does not appear that this man intended to violate the Election Code,” Duran wrote. “However, the statute requires me to report potential violations to you or a district attorney.”
In mentioning those who checked “no” in response to the citizen question on the voter registration form, Duran wrote that their admission “leads me to believe that, like the specific instances mentioned above, there may not have been any intent to violate the law. Those individuals may have been misled by third party registration agents, or may have misunderstood the law at the time they registered.”
“I am concerned that these specific cases demonstrate that New Mexico’s voter registration process is failing both citizens and non-citizens alike,” Duran wrote. “The fact that non-citizens are registered, and in some instances voting in New Mexico elections, is detrimental to the integrity of the election process for state, federal and local elections.”
Several have requested that their names be removed from the voter rolls, Duran wrote. She said her office is attempting to contact others.
The public records question
As to the question about whether the documents Duran’s office is reviewing can be released publicly, Duran’s letter to King states that she’s been requesting guidance from his office since March and has “still not received clear guidance as to such disclosure or non-disclosure.”
That’s not what she told NMPolitics.net several months ago. Here’s what I wrote in April about a March interview with Duran:
“I got a call from Duran herself, who told me she couldn’t give me anything because she was advised by the AG to withhold it all.
“‘We want to be as transparent and open as we can,’ Duran told me, but ‘with certain advice from our attorney, we’re limited at times.’
“She noted that her office had communicated with the AG via letters. When I asked for those letters she told me she couldn’t release them either, saying it’s ‘all attorney-client privileged information.’”
NMPolitics.net is seeking to review voter registration forms – which are public records – and drivers’ records – which are protected but releasable in some instances for research purposes. NMPolitics.net has requested to review the drivers’ records for research purposes only and pledged to not release them publicly.
The Taxation and Revenue Department is still considering whether to allow NMPolitics.net to review the drivers’ records.
Duran’s office has refused to release voter records it has reviewed in the course of its investigation even though they are public records, saying because they were compared with drivers’ records, such disclosure would reveal personal information about licensed drivers that is protected.
I am simply attempting to verify Duran’s research independently so I can determine the validity of the claims she’s making as a result of this investigation.