The N.M. Supreme Court building in Santa Fe
Secretary of state needs to know who will be on the ballot by April 11 so clerks can get ballots to New Mexicans who are overseas.
The New Mexico Supreme Court will consider on Tuesday whether candidates who left district and division numbers off their nominating petitions will remain on the ballot.
From the Albuquerque Journal:
“Secretary of State Dianna Duran had asked the high court to consolidate ten lawsuits and hold a hearing quickly on the ballot challenges.
“She says her office must know by April 11 who will be on the June 5 primary election ballot. That’s because county clerks have to get ballots out soon to military personnel and other New Mexicans overseas who have requested them.”
As NMPolitics.net has reported, at least 12 candidates who filed to run in the June 5 primary, including several sitting state legislators, failed to comply with a new law that requires that district or division numbers be listed on their nominating petitions.
Among them is Mark D’Antonio, the Democrat challenging Third Judicial District Attorney Amy Orlando, a Republican. D’Antonio released this statement about the situation after Orlando filed a challenge to his candidacy in court:
“I’m disappointed that Amy Orlando, who has been serving as Doña Ana County’s district attorney not by the will of the people but by appointment, is now trying to have this election decided in the courts instead of the voting booth on Election Day. It is apparent, in her legal suit filed against me March 30, 2011, that she expressly desires to retain her appointed position by running unopposed. In other words, Ms. Orlando does not want to face me or any other candidate who may stand in her way of being elected.
“While I acknowledge my oversight in not including the words ‘3rd Judicial District’ on my petitions, there was never any intent to confuse voters who signed my nominating petitions because the 3rd Judicial District comprises all of Doña Ana County – and therefore should be no confusion as to the district in which I am running.”
Orlando responded with this:
“The current spate of legal filings throughout the State against both Republican and Democrat candidates who have mistakes, omissions or fraudulent issues in their nominating petitions, should be of serious concern to all. Mr. D’Antonio admits he did not follow the law. As district attorney, I cannot and will not pick and choose which laws I will follow. Therefore, I filed a legal challenge.”
You can read more about Orlando’s challenge to D’Antonio’s candidacy from the Las Cruces Sun-News.