In a shift, Torres says she plans to hire new elections supervisor before November

Uncertainty about who will oversee the rapidly approaching November general election continues.

Shortly after the June primary, Doña Ana County fired its elections supervisor, Mari Langford. Clerk Rita Torres placed her chief deputy, Cecilia Madrid, in charge of the elections bureau.

Torres said at the time she would not hire an elections supervisor before November, and said she and Madrid would handle the election.

But at Tuesday’s commission meeting, Torres said she will hire a new supervisor before the November election, according to the Las Cruces Sun-News.

Commissioner Bill McCamley asked the clerk how soon a supervisor would be hired. Torres said her office is “working on getting one as soon as we can,” but she didn’t know “exactly when” the job would be posted, the Sun-News reported.

At the same time, Torres defended Madrid and elections bureau employees as capable of handling the election.

So to clarify, McCamley asked again, and Torres said she would hire an elections supervisor before the November election.

County Manager Brian Haines told the Sun-News after the meeting that he takes that as Torres’ request for county staff to post the job, so that will soon happen.

Haines told the commission he has offered Torres legal help, additional staffers or the hiring of an outside consultant to help ensure the election runs smoothly. Doña Ana County’s elections have been plagued by problems.

McCamley said he wanted to keep the option of a consultant on the table.

“Rita, this is not in any way a slight on your abilities at all,” the Sun-News quoted McCamley as saying. “It’s just we’re going through a change in the bureau of elections, and if there’s anything this board can do to help, it’s my opinion we need to do that.”