{"id":37492,"date":"2012-03-02T16:33:35","date_gmt":"2012-03-02T23:33:35","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=37492"},"modified":"2012-03-04T17:44:51","modified_gmt":"2012-03-05T00:44:51","slug":"officials-seek-sunland-park-election-delay-allege-voter-fraud","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2012\/03\/officials-seek-sunland-park-election-delay-allege-voter-fraud\/","title":{"rendered":"Voter-fraud allegations won\u2019t delay Sunland Park election"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Sunland<\/a>

Heath Haussamen \/ NMPolitics.net<\/p>

Sunland Park City Hall (Photo by Heath Haussamen)<\/p><\/div>\n

Though Texans have allegedly voted illegally, the election will proceed as planned on Tuesday; state and county officials are stepping in to ensure the integrity of the process from this point on.<\/h4>\n
\n
\n
\"\u201cWe<\/a><\/dt>\n

\u201cWe will do our best to monitor the polls next Tuesday to make sure that people who live in Texas don\u2019t vote.\u201d \u2013 Do\u00f1a Ana County Clerk Lynn Ellins<\/strong><\/h4>\n<\/dl>\n<\/div>\n

Read the district attorney\u2019s petition and secretary of state\u2019s report here<\/a>. To learn why NMPolitics.net redacted certain names and addresses from the document, click here<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n

Despite a report from the secretary of state alleging multiple cases of voter fraud, a district judge denied a request today to delay the Sunland Park municipal election, saying the district attorney hadn\u2019t proven that \u201cirreparable harm\u201d had been done.<\/p>\n

That means the election will proceed as planned on Tuesday even though law enforcement and elections officials believe Texas residents have already voted illegally in the New Mexico city, compromising or at least calling into question the integrity of the process.<\/p>\n

A petition Orlando filed in court states that the problems investigators uncovered have so compromised the integrity of the election that \u201cthere is no confidence that the election will accurately reflect the wishes of the qualified electorate of Sunland Park.\u201d<\/p>\n

The decision from District Judge Susan Riedel to allow the election to proceed caps a two-week period that saw the arrests of mayoral candidate Daniel Salinas and others<\/a> on charges related to an attempt to use a lap-dance video to force another candidate out of the mayoral race, the investigation into election problems, and the initiation of a state audit into financial problems in the city. In addition, the FBI is scrutinizing city contracts.<\/p>\n

Following Riedel\u2019s decision, law enforcement and county elections officials say they\u2019ll work to ensure that the election process has integrity from this point on. Staffers from the Do\u00f1a Ana County Clerk\u2019s Office and police will be in Sunland Park on Tuesday.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will have a presence at the polls,\u201d County Clerk Lynn Ellins<\/a> said. \u201cWe will do our best to monitor the polls next Tuesday to make sure that people who live in Texas don\u2019t vote.\u201d<\/p>\n

Details of the allegations<\/h3>\n

District Attorney Amy Orlando<\/a> argued for the postponement in Riedel\u2019s courtroom this afternoon, making a request that was apparently unprecedented in New Mexico to grant Secretary of State Dianna Duran<\/a> the authority to run a new election at a later date.<\/p>\n

Orlando\u2019s request was based on a lengthy report from Duran, who spent much of this week in Sunland Park investigating election-related complaints. In addition to voter fraud, the report alleges numerous other problems with the way Sunland Park\u2019s election has been conducted.<\/p>\n

Among the issues identified in Orlando\u2019s petition and Duran\u2019s report:<\/p>\n