Delay Considered on Election Tallies (NM-as long as 3 weeks)

The Albuquerque Journal (subscription required) ^ | Tuesday, November 25, 2003 | Loie Fecteau

[CedarDave]

Tuesday, November 25, 2003

Delay Considered on Election Tallies

By Loie Fecteau
Journal Politics Writer
    SANTA FE— Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron suggested Monday that unofficial vote tallies possibly should be kept secret for several weeks after an election to ensure accurate reporting of results.
    That would mean election results in New Mexico would not be made public until official results were certified by county and state canvassing boards, steps that come 10 days after a statewide election for the counties and 21 days for the state.
    "It is our intent that we provide all of the results accurately," Vigil-Giron told the Election Reform Task Force, which she co-chairs, at the Capitol. "So, if we can just hold the media at bay for the 10 days that you (county clerks) are doing your canvass, maybe that is the solution. So, the media will need to understand, 'You're not going to get overnight results.' ''
    She later told the task force that results should be withheld until after the state canvass is completed, 21 days after an election.
    Vigil-Giron's comments were greeted by applause by several county clerks at the meeting. But several other task force members questioned the wisdom of withholding unofficial results.
    "Would that not make us the only state in the union that would take 10 days to get our results out?" asked Sen. Diane Snyder, R-Albuquerque, who sits on the task force. "I'd be very upset if we didn't have any unofficial results for 21 days, never mind 10 days."
    Rep. Edward Sandoval, D-Albuquerque, who chairs the House Voters and Elections Committee, told Vigil-Giron: "With all due respect, I don't think we're going to go to a 21-day waiting period (for election results)."
    The task force subsequently voted unanimously to recommend that state law be changed to specify that election results should be reported as "incomplete results," instead of "unofficial results," until after counties and the state complete their respective canvassing and certifications.
    Task force member Eli Lee, an Albuquerque political consultant, said the public and the news media needed to be educated that some types of paper ballots, such as provisional, cannot be counted until after an election and that those ballots can determine the outcome of close elections.
    "Maybe we need to call these (unofficial) results incomplete results," Vigil-Giron said.
    Richardson appointed the task force in October to recommend ways to improve New Mexico's election process, including how to report accurate results in a more timely manner.
    Richardson said he was concerned that the fate of one of two constitutional amendments in the Sept. 23 statewide special election was in limbo for several days because of the closeness of the vote. The proposal— Constitutional Amendment 2— to tap a permanent fund more heavily to pay for school reforms was approved by voters by a 195-vote margin statewide.
    "We should not be waiting for days, sometimes weeks, to obtain accurate vote counts," Richardson said when he appointed the task force.

Copyright 2003 Albuquerque Journal

[CedarDave]

Typical proposal by a Rat offical -- give themselves more time to rig the results to their liking. However, this ploy is so obvious that even the Democrat reps in the legislature can't buy it.

[rarenmrepublican]

You are right CedarDave, it just gives Richardson more time to "find" absentee ballots until he gets what he wants, ie; permanent fund raid.

[trebb]

Right on the money here - publicity is the only way to keep them from stealing the whole show.

[jmaroneps37]

rats scurry away from the light. This whole thing is old rat think. When they controlled the ratmedia they would have been able to get away with this crap but that was then, this is now.