Lawsuits loom over New Mexico outcome - State Republicans fear illegal votes will taint election

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. — Unless the presidential election is a blowout, the Land of Enchantment will see lawsuits challenging the outcome, a key Republican state party official predicts.

Greg Graves, executive director of the New Mexico GOP, said: “The honest ballots counted will give President George W. Bush a narrow victory” and the state’s five electoral votes. Just a few feet from Graves’s office, Scott Jennings, executive director of New Mexico’s Bush campaign, said the president would beat Kerry “in a free, fair election.”

But Graves anticipates that, in addition to 615,000-620,000 legally cast votes, there will also be “15,000 to 20,000 fraudulent votes,” which could hand the election to Democratic nominee Sen. John Kerry.

In any case, a close election will translate into legal challenges of the outcome, Graves said. “Every time a fraudulent vote is cast, it disenfranchises those of us who obey the law,” he added.

While Albuquerque just hosted the world’s largest hot-air-balloon festival, Republicans assert that Graves’s predictions are more than hot air. Several state election officials have told The Hill that not enough safeguards are in place to prevent fraud.

“You can’t knock on every door,” said Fran Hanhardt (R), county clerk of San Juan County, New Mexico’s fourth-largest county. “Someone could register their dog if they really wanted to. … If they filled out the forms correctly, we wouldn’t know it was fraud; we accept it as fact.”

But Ernest Ortega, a spokesman for Democratic Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron, said the system in place “works pretty well, and I have confidence that people are getting registered correctly.”

Ortega said that 150,000 new voters have been registered, adding that the biggest problem for state officials is that many forms were not filled out completely.

Bernalillo County Clerk Mary Herrera (D) said she went public with 3,000 incomplete registration forms to allow voters to add missing information. As a result, she said, most of those forms have since been cleared. Bernalillo is the biggest county in the state.

But Herrera also said that a case involving two minors registering to vote was not caught until their parents found their children’s voter-registration cards in the mail.

Graves said the state has a “long history of perceived voter fraud,” adding that there is “no question that there are shenanigans pulled by Democratic elected officials to [game] the system” in their favor.

But Graves was quick to point out that “it is probably not the Democratic Party itself that is perpetuating the problem.” Instead, he blamed liberal 527 groups and their aggressive voter-registration efforts, which he said have resulted in 100,000 new voters.

Republicans are especially worried that canvassers are signing up voters and helping them request absentee ballots simultaneously. Graves said he knows of a case where 30 absentee ballots were sent to an office building, asserting that the potential for fraud in such cases is very real.

“I think there is enough evidence that there are people who register voters fraudulently,” Graves said.

“Do I think that the governor and the secretary of state and the Democratic county clerks are in collusion on this? I don’t think so. But I think there are a lot of people who vilely hate President Bush and they believe that doing anything to keep him from office is justified,” Graves said, adding, “And you have these organizers that are paid by the 527 that are part of these people.”

New Mexico Democratic Party spokesman Matt Farrauto said that if there is fraud, “it should be investigated and [prosecuted],” but he strongly criticized Republicans for hinting at voter fraud because, he said, the GOP is losing the registration battle.

“Democrats would prefer that [Republican] constitutional officers and elected county clerks do their work, rather than insinuating that thousands of New Mexicans are engaged in fraud,” Farrauto said, adding that if there were evidence of voter fraud, Republicans would seek legal action and not just air their grievances in public.

Using the identity of another person to cast a vote is a felony and can be punished with up to 10 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.

In September, U.S. Attorney David Iglesias, a Bush appointee based in Albuquerque, announced the formation of an election-fraud task force aimed at collecting and investigating claims of voter fraud. “New Mexicans deserve to have a fair election.

This task force will vigorously enforce all election laws and [ensure] that the right to vote is absolutely protected,” Iglesias said at the time.

Redmond won a special election against a candidate that even dumbocrats thought was too corrupt to vote for. He lost soundly in the election that followed in the next year. Lujan dominated the first district on the strength of a large Albuquerque contigent and the best voter constituency program even known on Capitol Hill. Once NM gained a third district, Republicans have held onto the Alb area and have been shut out of the northern area (since Richardson).

NM is a great place to live. It has desert and mountains. Four moderate seasons. Diverse culture and a rich history. Nice, laid back people. Albuquerque is a city with most of the conveniences of a major city, but not too big.

But between the indiginous democrat machine and all of the liberals that move here from the left and east coasts, politics is insufferable. It is a very socialist state in a lot of ways. High taxes. Government dependency (both on the part of individuals and businesses). Very poor educational system. And frankly, there are a lot of wached out, extreme liberals here.

He fooled a lot of Rhinos in the business community when he ran for govenor. But trust me, even the teachers are mad as hell at him now. Plus, Richardson has raided every fund imaginable to advance his personal political ambitions. People here are regretting his election ever since he got caught going 110 mph on the city freeway in order to make it to a fund raiser on time. He has also tried to get a personal jet paid for through the highway fund. He is raiding the severence tax fund principal in order to buy favoritism from any group that can help him establish a national political launch.

We come to a point where enforcing the law by integrity of elections is something debatable.It would not be this way if not for demrat politics.The lawyers on their side did a back-door search to see nothing was in place to challenge the illegal votes.They've thrown their support behind something directly against their first order and this will affect them in life as compromised tools.The silver lining to this is the portion of those who see what is going on and resist the brainwash.There will be enough work sorting this out legally and the fines on voter fraud will more than pay.If i were a lawyer I would want a decent night's sleep.Protecting the constitution and trying to eliminate corruption are noble goals.

Well, this state...NM...went to Gore in 2000 AFTER a box of "missing" ballots shgowed up with just enough votes for Gore to win the state. Strangely, in the box was not one single vote for Bush or any other candidate. But there was no fraud. (cough)

I remember that. It is amazing how utterly corrupt are the demoRATS. It is disgusting. What really frustrates me is that I have not received my absentee ballot from FL. I wonder why? I fear I may have to travel back just to make sure my vote counts. I am really upset at how corrupt voting has become. It anyone believe not showing ID makes sense should be SHOT!!! They are evil humans. I am certain the demos are going all out to steal this election.

Well, I'm off to bed so I can get up early and partake in my favorite part of NM - beautiful, inexpensive golf courses that can be enjoyed practically year round. Now that's worth living in the People's Republic of NM!

After we get done with the "Mess of 2004," we need to initiate a letter writing campaign to our Senators.
1. Everyone must reregister to vote,
2. Picture ID must be used to register, and proof of citizenship must be given.
3. Picture ID must be used to identify each voter at the polling place when voting.
4. Computer cross checking should be required to make sure that no one is registered in more than one place and that all registered voters are citizens.
I realize that there is a redundancy built into this system. Maybe after the mess of 04 they will squash voter fraud and send the guilty to Jail where they belong!!!!!

Unless we conservatives go beyond hand wringing and self serving verbiage and face up to the fact that the Democrat/Communist party will do what ever they have to do, to obtain total control of our beloved country. As J. Edgar Hoover's book stated "They are masters of Deceit". If we wish to survive, we need to exert a greater effort no matter what it takes to oppose them, or we can kiss our Free country good bye. Voter fraud has been a major factor for many years and yet most Conservatives give it little if any attention. This year may be our last chance to expose it before it's too late.

You can count on illegal aliens voting there. Same here in Vegas where the Dems are registering them to vote without ID check. The Registrar is between a rock and a hard place. She claims there's no way to investigate and we have to go with the "honor" system. ROFL That would be hysterical if it wasn't so serious.

In the West, the Latinos legal and otherwise vote for the Latino that is running. He gets in. Then he influences the rest of the politicians by delivering support of the Latino community for their issues, providing they in turn support the Latinos. They end up controlling our politicians on every level. Is it any wonder the rest of us can't get anywhere in protesting illegals? They're costing us a fortune and our politicians won't even discuss the issue.

This strategy has historical lessons but the agnostic crack-head whether stealing purses or elections cares little.Nor does the lawyer who's concern is to "win" against overwhelming odds even if they be truth.Together, the threat exists and I can taste it in the air.The obvious if not for the security won by our men and women in strife and sacrifice these morons wouldn't be able to play these games.More important to them(and after all,the universe revolves around them for they are so intelligent)they will witness their complete destruction.One mansion at a time precisely because of their effectiveness.

Bush was ahead by a few hundred votes in 2000 - and suddenly, at the last minute, a box of ballets was 'found" that put Gore over by a few...fraud in New Mex is well known

They have only about 1/3rd (!) of their counties reported, officially, so far! with Bush about 8,000 ahead...and will take until the 23rd to declare.

This is ludicrous. Each county has had more than enough time to count their votes. I suspicion they are just having a hard time manufacturing enough to overcome the 8,000 lead.

I have a bad feeling that this is all closely orchestrated with Ohio - and Ohio;s hair pulling to see how they can believably 'find' enough votes to overcome "W"s big lead there. I think they had their extra votes all ready to go, but never anticipated that Pres. Bush would have such a significant lead. It's thrown them for a loop.

Does anyone know how many military votes might be coming in? Or if it's past deadline for them in Ohio>

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