Absentee problem may be less severe than feared

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Statistics released today by the Doña Ana County Bureau of Elections indicate that, as of this morning, 633 people who requested absentee ballots had yet to vote, suggesting that problems here may not be as great as many had feared. A news release from the county said 7,908 absentee ballots were requested in Doña Ana County. Before today’s mail came in, 7,275 of those people had voted. That included 5,291 who had returned their absentee ballots and 1,984 who took advantage of the option to instead vote early because they hadn’t yet received their absentee ballots. Of the 633 who requested ballots but had not yet voted, the county expected that most would have their ballots arrive in the Bureau of Elections office today or Tuesday. Continue Reading

NYT: McCain will campaign in NM on Election Day

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John McCain will make one final campaign stop in New Mexico on Election Day, the New York Times is reporting. That’s in addition to the rally he’s holding this evening in Roswell. McCain plans to return to his home state of Arizona this evening after campaigning in seven states today. He’ll vote Tuesday morning in Phoenix, and then campaign in Grand Junction, Colo. and somewhere in New Mexico during the day on Tuesday, the newspaper quoted McCain Campaign Manager Rick Davis as saying. Continue Reading

Clark asks Obama supporters to help get out the vote

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Former Democratic presidential candidate and retired Gen. Wesley Clark urged a group of about 100 supporters of Barack Obama at a rally today in Las Cruces to help convince people to vote on Tuesday. “I don’t trust the polls, and there’s no room for complacency,” Clark said. “… In good elections in this country, 60 to 65 percent of Americans vote. Can’t we do better than that?” Clark, speaking at a VFW post on the city’s East Mesa, hardly mentioned Obama’s opponent, John McCain, but was highly critical of the Bush Administration during his speech in arguing that Obama will bring change. During Bush’s presidency, Clark said, a pattern has emerged: Warnings of a coming disaster are ignored, a disaster strikes, the federal government is slow to respond, and, at the end of Bush’s term, the disaster lingers. Continue Reading

Journal polls have Dems leading in all federal races

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Democrats, Democrats, Democrats. Though the election isn’t over, and things could change by Tuesday, that’s the trend revealed by Albuquerque Journal polls of all federal races in New Mexico: Democrats have the edge in every race. In the presidential race, the Journal poll released today had Barack Obama leading John McCain by eight points, 51 percent to 43 percent. Some 5 percent remained undecided in the survey, which was conducted Tuesday through Thursday. The big reason for Obama’s lead: He was ahead by a whopping 22 percentage points in Albuquerque. Continue Reading

Giuliani says it’s time to fight for McCain

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Rudy Giuliani asked an enthusiastic crowd of about 200 people today at a rally in Mesilla to prove the polls wrong and elect John McCain on Tuesday. In a speech full of shots at Barack Obama, Joe Biden, Bill Richardson and the media, the former GOP presidential candidate and New York mayor said the polls have been wrong before. “You gotta go get them,” Giuliani told those in attendance in urging them to find friends and family members to take to vote on Tuesday. “… New Mexico is so important to winning this election, and we can do it.” Giuliani’s was the latest in a series of high-profile visits to New Mexico as McCain makes a play for the swing state. McCain is trailing in most polls here and across the nation, but his campaign insists he can prevail in New Mexico, and it’s trying to win over conservative Democrats and others who may still be undecided. Continue Reading

Concern about county’s absentee ballots grows

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County elections official says anyone who wants to vote has alternative ways to do it Will delays in mailing out absentee ballots mean that people who tried to vote in Doña Ana County don’t get to cast a ballot in Tuesday’s election? And, if so, will the number of people who try but aren’t able to vote be significant enough to affect the outcome of any races? Those are the questions Democrats, Republicans and others are trying to process since learning on Friday that the county’s Bureau of Elections hasn’t complied this election cycle with a state statute that requires that absentee ballots be mailed out within 24 hours of the office receiving requests for the ballots. While there are varying interpretations of what it means — GOP officials allege that it could disenfranchise 3,000 to 5, 000 voters, while others argue the number of disenfranchised might be minimal or even zero — everyone appears to agree on one thing: the need to spread the word about alternative voting methods to as many people as possible before it’s too late. The elections bureau is in compliance with the portion of the law that requires that all absentee ballots be mailed out by today. Continue Reading

Romney says NM voters swinging to McCain, Pearce

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Former GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney says he’s confident that undecided New Mexico voters are swinging toward John McCain and Steve Pearce in the final days before the election. “The question is whether we can move them enough that we can win,” Romney said today in a phone interview. The former Massachusetts governor was speaking from Farmington, where he held a rally this morning attended by Pearce, the Republican U.S. Senate candidate, and about 250 people. Romney said the energy at the event was good, and he’s becoming increasingly confident about the possibility that McCain and Pearce will win. Romney has spent a great deal of time helping Pearce this year. Continue Reading

McCain to visit Roswell on Monday

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John McCain will make one more stop in New Mexico before Election Day to hold a rally in Roswell on Monday. McCain’s rally will be held at Great Southwest Aviation, 100 Southwest Way. Doors for the event open at 3 p.m., and the program is scheduled to start at 5 p.m. You need a ticket to get in. Click here to get one online. You can also pick up tickets today and Sunday from 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the parking lot of the Roswell Chamber of Commerce, 131 W. 2nd Street in Roswell; and from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Monday at the Chaves County GOP/Victory Headquarters, 200 North Main St. Continue Reading

Location of Clark’s Las Cruces town hall is changed

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Organizers have changed the location of retired Gen. Wesley Clark’s Sunday town-hall meeting in Las Cruces. The event will be held at VFW Post 6917, 5845 Bataan Memorial West, and begins at 4:30 p.m. Clark is campaigning on behalf of Barack Obama. Before that, Clark will hold an event in Roswell beginning at 11 a.m. It will be held at MIA-POW Park, 912. N. Pennsylvania Ave. Continue Reading

Group urges early instead of absentee voting

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A non-partisan voter protection group is recommending that those who haven’t yet received absentee ballots that they requested instead vote early today, and they’re especially concerned about the situation in Doña Ana County. Election Protection, a group made up of representatives from Common Cause, unions and other organizations, says it has received numerous complaints that absentee ballots requested days or weeks ago have still not been received, and says that “appears to be a particularly significant problem in Doña Ana County.” On Thursday, Secretary of State Mary Herrera said she is concerned that workers are stretched too thin in Doña Ana County and said the vast majority of complaints her office received this week came from Doña Ana County and related primarily to absentee voting. The county’s acting elections supervisor, Mario Jimenez, has said his office isn’t understaffed and things are running smoothly. Regardless, in response to the flood of absentee ballots in Doña Ana County and around the state, earlier this week Herrera authorized counties to allow voters who don’t want to wait for their absentee ballots to instead vote in person at early voting sites. Election Protection recommends that voters who have requested but not received their absentee ballots instead vote early today, the last day of early voting, or vote in person on Election Day. Continue Reading

Doña Ana County candidate forums on TV

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If you live in Doña Ana County, you have the opportunity this weekend to watch on television two League of Women Voters candidate forums that were held earlier this month. The forums will be aired continuously from 8 a.m. to 10 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday on the City of Las Cruces’ cable channel, channel 20 on Comcast Cable. The forums were held on Oct. 14 and 22. Continue Reading

Richardson reignites confusion over Obama tax plan

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Republicans are using a statement Gov. Bill Richardson made today to accuse Barack Obama of lying about tax cuts he has promised most Americans, but a Richardson staffer says the governor simply misspoke in claiming that Obama will cut taxes for those making $120,000 and under. Speaking about Obama’s tax plan, Richardson told a Colorado radio station today that Obama “is basically looking at $120,000 and under, among those that are in the middle class, and there is a tax cut for them.” Obama has laid out his tax plan on his Web site: He claims no family making less than $250,000 annually would see a tax increase under his plan. In a recent TV ad, Obama said Americans who “have a job, pay taxes and make less than $200,000 a year” will get a tax cut. Richardson spokesman Pahl Shipley said Richardson misspoke. The governor, he said, “meant to say $250,000.” So, insert that number into Richardson’s quote, and he would have stated that those making less than $250,000 will get a tax cut. Continue Reading

Giuliani event now scheduled to start at 6 p.m.

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The time has been changed for Rudy Giuliani’s Saturday rally in Mesilla. The rally is now scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. It will be held at Public Safety Park, 2670 Calle de Parian. To RSVP, contact Crystal Caballero at ccaballero@mccain08hq.com or (575) 528-1101. Giuliani is one of three big-name surrogates to visit New Mexico this weekend. Mitt Romney will be in Farmington and Albuquerque. Continue Reading

Herrera concerned about election in Doña Ana County

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County official says his office is handling the flood of absentee ballot requests and will be fine on Tuesday The secretary of state says she’s concerned that the election may not run smoothly in Doña Ana County on Tuesday unless more help is brought in, but the man in charge of the county’s election says things are going well and will be fine on Election Day. Mary Herrera said in an interview that her office has received a large volume of complaints this week from people having problems in Doña Ana County, primarily with absentee voting. Herrera said the county’s acting elections supervisor, Mario Jimenez, and his staff are doing an excellent job, she believes they are stretched to thin. “I don’t think they have enough people, and it’s just not fair to the voters,” Herrera said on Thursday. Jimenez took issue with Herrera’s assessment of the situation. Continue Reading

Giuliani, Gen. Clark to campaign in southern NM

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Two former presidential hopefuls will campaign for current candidates for the nation’s top job this weekend in southern New Mexico. Former New York Mayor Rudy Giuliani will be in Mesilla on Saturday evening for a rally in support of John McCain. And retired Gen. Wesley Clark will hold town-hall meetings in Roswell and Las Cruces on Sunday on behalf of Barack Obama. The rallies are the latest in a string of campaign events during the last three weekends of the election that reveal the presidential campaigns’ focus on southern New Mexico. Two weekends ago, Joe Biden was in Mesilla and Sarah Palin was in Roswell. Continue Reading