{"id":59032,"date":"2015-06-15T05:52:03","date_gmt":"2015-06-15T11:52:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/?p=59032"},"modified":"2015-06-16T10:20:36","modified_gmt":"2015-06-16T16:20:36","slug":"concern-about-clerks-office-arrests-but-not-a-loss-of-trust","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/2015\/06\/concern-about-clerks-office-arrests-but-not-a-loss-of-trust\/","title":{"rendered":"Concern about clerk\u2019s office arrests, but not a loss of trust"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_59329\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignnone\" style=\"max-width: 771px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-large wp-image-59329\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ClerksOffice-771x536.jpg\" alt=\"In spite of recent problems, business continued last week at the Do\u00f1a Ana County Clerk's Office.\" width=\"771\" height=\"536\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ClerksOffice-771x536.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ClerksOffice-336x234.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ClerksOffice-768x534.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ClerksOffice-1170x813.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/ClerksOffice.jpg 1434w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 771px) 100vw, 771px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Heath Haussamen \/ NMPolitics.net<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">In spite of recent problems, business continued last week at the Do\u00f1a Ana County Clerk&#8217;s Office.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>The Do\u00f1a Ana County Clerk&#8217;s Office has built a reputation in recent years\u00a0for competence and fairness, many from across the political spectrum\u00a0say.<\/p>\n<p>That&#8217;s been quite a shift. Before Democrat Lynn Ellins\u00a0became elections director in 2006 and clerk in 2008, problems plagued the office.\u00a0A<a href=\"http:\/\/articles.latimes.com\/2000\/nov\/15\/news\/mn-52167\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0counting error<\/a>\u00a0led New Mexico to initially wrongly declare George W. Bush the winner\u00a0of the state&#8217;s five electoral votes in 2000. A\u00a0former county clerk was convicted in 2003 on <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2009\/07\/martinez-campaigns-on-voter-fraud\/\" target=\"_blank\">five felony violations<\/a> of the state elections code.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"module align-right half type-aside\">\n<h3>Coming this week:<\/h3>\n<p>County Clerk Lynn Ellins and Chief Deputy Clerk Scott Krahling answered our questions during a face-to-face interview last week. Look for additional articles based on that interview.<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>Recent events raise new questions about the clerk&#8217;s office:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>A document technician in the office, Maria Ceniceros, is facing charges for allegedly coordinating a binational scam to cash fraudulently obtained federal tax refund checks.\u00a0Ceniceros allegedly <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lcsun-news.com\/las_cruces-news\/ci_28245538\/court-records-employee-stole-data-from-voter-rolls?source=pkg\" target=\"_blank\">stole personal information<\/a> from the county&#8217;s voter database including Social Security numbers. Three other clerk&#8217;s office employees are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lcsun-news.com\/las_cruces-news\/ci_28227960\/county-clerks-employees-detained-early-monday?source=pkg\" target=\"_blank\">facing charges<\/a>\u00a0for allegedly notarizing documents needed to cash the checks. All four\u00a0are on paid administrative leave.<\/li>\n<li>The county fired the whistleblower who reported the check-cashing scheme to police, R.J. Hernandez, days after the arrests. Hernandez alleges\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.lcsun-news.com\/las_cruces-news\/ci_28254006\/dona-ana-county-fires-whistleblower-id-theft-check?source=pkg\" target=\"_blank\">retaliation<\/a>, which county officials <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lcsun-news.com\/las_cruces-news\/ci_28285177\/dona-ana-county-clerk-manager-whistleblower-not-fired\" target=\"_blank\">deny<\/a>. Ellins told NMPolitics.net the county was &#8220;gathering what we needed to have a termination conversation&#8221; before learning about the\u00a0allegations\u00a0Hernandez reported. Personnel laws prevent him from commenting further.<\/li>\n<li>Separately, former elections supervisor\u00a0Lorrie Mu\u00f1oz\u00a0allegedly <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lcsun-news.com\/las_cruces-news\/ci_28259867\/former-county-elections-supervisor-arrested-allegedly-falsifying-records\" target=\"_blank\">changed\u00a0her own payroll records<\/a>\u00a0in 2013 to show a lower salary that allowed her to qualify for food stamps. Mu\u00f1oz was\u00a0charged\u00a0with a felony count of falsifying records on June 5, a day after she resigned from the county&#8217;s top elections job.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Those situations don&#8217;t directly affect\u00a0the integrity of elections, as some past scandals did.\u00a0The alleged crimes involve the protection of voters&#8217; personal information and internal controls in the clerk&#8217;s office and county government.<\/p>\n<p>The clerk&#8217;s office is reviewing protocols to improve data security. Ellins said he&#8217;s not changing the way the office runs elections.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;There would be no reason for us to change what we\u2019re doing because what we\u2019re doing works,&#8221; he said.<\/p>\n<h3>&#8216;I&#8217;m not calling for their heads&#8217;<\/h3>\n<p>Law enforcement officials have praised Ellins and Chief Deputy Clerk Scott Krahling for aiding their investigation. Meanwhile, Hernandez, the whistleblower, has called on the two to resign.<!--more--><\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I think the county clerk&#8217;s office has lost its integrity completely,&#8221; the Las Cruces Sun-News <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lcsun-news.com\/las_cruces-news\/ci_28227960\/county-clerks-employees-detained-early-monday?source=pkg\" target=\"_blank\">quoted Hernandez as saying<\/a>. &#8220;They say they are not involved, and that&#8217;s true, but they are responsible&#8221; for the office.<\/p>\n<p>Ellins is term-limited from running for re-election next year. Krahling, a Democrat, has announced his candidacy. Hernandez, a Republican, says he&#8217;s also running for clerk.<\/p>\n<p>In phone interviews and discussions\u00a0NMPolitics.net facilitated on Facebook,\u00a0many said they are\u00a0troubled by the alleged crimes.\u00a0They&#8217;re\u00a0watching how Ellins, Krahling and county management address the problems.<\/p>\n<p>But several said they haven&#8217;t lost trust in Ellins and Krahling or the integrity of elections in Do\u00f1a Ana County.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I don&#8217;t think you will find anyone that is not concerned with a breach in the security of sensitive, confidential information,&#8221; Pattie Gipson, who has\u00a0worked on voter protection for the county Democratic Party, wrote <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nmpolitics\/posts\/854689281233464\" target=\"_blank\">on Facebook<\/a>. &#8220;That being said, I have no doubt that Lynn, Scott and the county will work to secure this information and restore people&#8217;s confidence in this office.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>As a\u00a0former chair of the county GOP and a 2012 candidate for a state Senate seat, Russell Allen has interacted with the staff at the clerk&#8217;s office\u00a0regularly. Allen\u00a0says he has philosophical disagreements with Ellins and his team. He supports requiring voters to show photo identification cards.<\/p>\n<p>But Allen noted that the protection of information contained in the county&#8217;s voter file is a separate issue and voter ID wouldn&#8217;t have prevented its theft. He\u00a0spoke respectfully\u00a0of Ellins and his staff.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I\u2019ve always been treated fair by those guys. They\u2019ve always opened the door for me,&#8221; said Allen, who currently chairs the board of the Greater Las Cruces Chamber of Commerce. &#8220;I\u2019m not calling for their heads. We\u2019ll get that opportunity next year. I\u2019m a believer in the election.&#8221;<\/p>\n<h3>&#8216;How do we fix it?&#8217;<\/h3>\n<p>Ellins and Krahling have asked Allen and others to <a href=\"http:\/\/www.lcsun-news.com\/las_cruces-news\/ci_28285177\/dona-ana-county-clerk-manager-whistleblower-not-fired\" target=\"_blank\">examine the office&#8217;s internal procedures<\/a> related to the protection of information. That&#8217;s one of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/2015\/06\/clerks-office-is-committed-to-making-this-right\/\" target=\"_blank\">several steps<\/a> the clerk&#8217;s office is taking to try to improve its practices going forward. Allen commended Ellins and Krahling for\u00a0seeking input from the private sector.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_59331\"  class=\"wp-caption module image alignleft\" style=\"max-width: 336px;\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-59331 size-medium\" src=\"http:\/\/www.nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/VoterFile-336x184.jpg\" alt=\"Dona Ana County's voter file, which is housed in a locking, fireproof vault. Staff in the clerk's office have to access the file to do their jobs. That\u2019s one reason Clerk Lynn Ellins advocates for New Mexico joining 46 other states in not asking for people's full Social Security numbers when they register to vote.\" width=\"336\" height=\"184\" srcset=\"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/VoterFile-336x184.jpg 336w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/VoterFile-768x421.jpg 768w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/VoterFile-771x423.jpg 771w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/VoterFile-1170x641.jpg 1170w, https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/06\/VoterFile.jpg 1476w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px\" \/><\/a><p class=\"wp-media-credit\">Heath Haussamen \/ NMPolitics.net<\/p><p class=\"wp-caption-text\">Dona Ana County&#8217;s voter file, which is housed in a locking, fireproof vault. Staff in the clerk&#8217;s office have to access the file to do their jobs. That\u2019s one reason Clerk Lynn Ellins says New Mexico should join\u00a046 other states that don&#8217;t require people to give their\u00a0full Social Security numbers when they register to vote.<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Not all Republicans expressed the same respect for Ellins and Krahling. Bev Courtney of Las Cruces, who has been a poll watcher for 20 years, takes issue with Ellins&#8217; issuance of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.npr.org\/2013\/10\/22\/239790062\/how-a-county-clerk-ignited-the-gay-marriage-debate-in-n-m\" target=\"_blank\">marriage licenses to same-sex couples<\/a> in 2013, which led to the legalization of such\u00a0marriages in New Mexico. Courtney says that reflects negatively on everything else Ellins has done. And like Allen, Courtney is at odds with Ellins on voter ID.<\/p>\n<p>Still, Courtney said, &#8220;I\u2019m not going to say that I feel like Lynn has not done this job professionally. I have not seen that.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Allen\u00a0said he believes &#8220;both Scott and Lynn are concerned about the integrity of elections and the integrity of people\u2019s personal information.&#8221; While he&#8217;s waiting to see if law enforcement finds\u00a0additional problems in the clerk&#8217;s office, \u201cMy first reaction, at this point in time, is there\u2019s really not a lot of stuff they could have done to stop this.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe question is how do we fix it?\u201d Allen asked.<\/p>\n<p>Ellins said he has &#8220;strong reasons to believe that there are no more suspects.&#8221; He declined to elaborate.<\/p>\n<p>Las Cruces Democrat Barbara Alvarez trusts Ellins and Krahling but is worried about others, she wrote\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/haussamen\/posts\/10100824500496681\" target=\"_blank\">on Facebook<\/a>. She noted that Ceniceros allegedly convinced other\u00a0employees to aid her crimes.\u00a0In addition to jobs held by Ellins and Krahling, the clerk&#8217;s office has 24 full-time positions.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Will they safeguard our personal information? Or will they use it to commit more criminal acts?&#8221; Alvarez\u00a0asked. &#8220;&#8230;\u00a0If someone is under financial stress, they may be more likely to consider joining someone who is committing crimes while on duty.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ellins said\u00a0Ceniceros&#8217; alleged theft of voters&#8217; personal information is &#8220;every county clerk&#8217;s nightmare.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;I\u2019ve thought about this in the past &#8212; what if? &#8212; but I can\u2019t sit in everybody\u2019s cubicle eight hours a day,&#8221; Ellins said. He is renewing a push for New Mexico to join 46 other states that don&#8217;t require a full Social Security number to register to vote.<\/p>\n<p>Allen said\u00a0guaranteeing\u00a0the safety of people&#8217;s private information is nearly impossible in\u00a0the private sector and government. But he said perfection should be the goal nonetheless.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt just scares the crap out of you when you don\u2019t think you can trust your staff. And clearly Scott and Lynn are in that position right now, and the whole community, and my guess is the whole state is thinking that as well,&#8221; Allen said. &#8220;So this is a very serious situation. I hope we can tighten it up. That\u2019s all we can do. We need to find some good methods and best practices and let\u2019s tighten it up.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Allen said he has mixed feelings about requiring\u00a0Social Security numbers from people who\u00a0register to vote. He said he is concerned about privacy, but\u00a0Social Security numbers allow the cross-referencing of the voter file\u00a0with other databases.<\/p>\n<p>Krahling, a former Do\u00f1a Ana County\u00a0commissioner, said the clerk&#8217;s office can &#8212; and will &#8212; learn from this situation, with help from people like Allen.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve come a long way. &#8230; This office is not the same as it was when there were questions regarding the integrity of the election. You can trust the results that come out of this office,&#8221; Krahling\u00a0said. &#8220;We are working really hard so you can trust your information with this office. That\u2019s what we have to do now.\u201d<\/p>\n<h3>&#8216;We&#8217;re not playing political games&#8217;<\/h3>\n<p>Both Ellins and Krahling spoke about\u00a0the importance of\u00a0transparency. Ellins said he&#8217;s frustrated that personnel laws prevent him from revealing\u00a0why he fired Hernandez, especially since\u00a0Hernandez can make any claims he wants.<\/p>\n<p>Others are similarly frustrated. Democrat Mark Benson wrote on Facebook that the appearance of firing a whistleblower is &#8220;terrible.&#8221; The Las Crucen\u00a0said Hernandez &#8220;is riding high in public opinion with people on both sides of the political aisle.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Jeffory Parsons of Las Cruces\u00a0said he understands that the employees facing charges are\u00a0innocent until proven guilty. But the self-identified independent, who is registered\u00a0as a Democrat so he can vote in primaries,\u00a0questioned firing the whistleblower while placing those accused of crimes on paid\u00a0leave.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Were they paying (Hernandez)\u00a0until he found a new job I&#8217;d at least say the treatment was fair,&#8221; Parsons wrote on Facebook.<\/p>\n<p>Meanwhile Jeff Milligan-Lujan, a Las Cruces Democrat, wrote on Facebook that he has confidence in the clerk.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The termination (of Hernandez) is a personnel matter and should be handled as such,&#8221; he\u00a0wrote. &#8220;We should not be asked to form opinions based merely on what the paper publishes. Wait for all the facts.&#8221;<\/p>\n<p>Ellins and Krahling said the timing of Hernandez&#8217;s firing is evidence that they&#8217;re working to do what&#8217;s\u00a0right rather than what&#8217;s politically expedient. Ellins reiterated his assertion that he didn&#8217;t fire Hernandez for reporting crimes\u00a0to law enforcement.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI ain\u2019t that dumb. There had to be other reasons, serious reasons. Because I could have stayed out of political hot water if I kept him,&#8221; Ellins said. &#8220;That\u2019s not the way I operate. I did the right thing.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis office is transparent,&#8221; he added. &#8220;We\u2019re not trying to shove stuff in the drawer.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;And we\u2019re not playing games,&#8221; Krahling said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Several said they&#8217;re troubled by the alleged crimes but haven&#8217;t lost trust in the clerk or the integrity of elections in Do\u00f1a Ana County.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":59329,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[142,115],"class_list":["post-59032","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news-and-analysis","tag-crime","tag-dona-ana-county"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59032","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=59032"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/59032\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/59329"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=59032"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=59032"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nmpolitics.net\/index\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=59032"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}