Free Republic

SANTA FE — Green and Libertarian Party presidential candidates are seeking a statewide recount of ballots in New Mexico's presidential contest that President Bush won by a 5,988-vote margin. Green Party nominee David Cobb and Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik want a recount in all precincts and a recheck of voting machines to ensure an accurate count of presidential ballots, said Blair Bobier, a spokesman for the Cobb campaign. "We feel that for protection of the voting process and ensuring that people have not only the right to vote but to have their vote count, that a recount is warranted," Bobier...

With your help, we are standing up for the right to vote, and the right for votes to be counted. David Cobb of the Green Party and Michael Badnarik of the Libertarian Party have filed for a recount of the presidential ballots cast in Ohio, New Mexico, and Nevada, and have filed a lawsuit in Ohio to make sure there is sufficient time to recount every ballot. The initial Ohio recount filing fees and expenses were paid with the help of thousands of small donations from all over the country. We appreciate your support of the recount, and of a...

Three weeks after the general election, New Mexico's canvassing board officially declared President Bush the winner by 5,988 votes, or less than 1 percentage point. The board certified the Nov. 2 election results Tuesday and said Bush received 376,930 votes, or 49.8 percent, to Democrat John Kerry's 370,942 votes, or 49 percent. Independent Ralph Nader received 4,053 votes, or 0.5 percent. Four years ago, Democrat Al Gore defeated Bush in New Mexico by just 366 votes out of 598,605 cast. Gov. Bill Richardson said in a statement that he would propose changes to state election law to speed up vote...

Bush Has Solid Lead in N.M. After Canvass Wednesday November 17, 2004 11:01 PM LAS CRUCES, N.M. (AP) - President Bush has kept his lead in New Mexico after the last county in the state to certify votes from the election completed its canvass Tuesday. Democrat John Kerry picked up 206 votes in Dona Ana County, New Mexico's second largest, while Bush garnered an additional 100, giving him a 6,047-vote lead statewide in an unofficial Associated Press tally. Results from the official count will be released next week. In 2000, Al Gore beat Bush in New Mexico by 366 votes....

Washington, DC, Nov. 9 (UPI) -- Observers watching the counting of New Mexico's 2004 provisional and absentee ballots have uncovered evidence of voter fraud, Opinion Journal said Tuesday. O.J. political diarist John Fund said the Bernalillo County clerk "told media outlets that observers had discovered instances of voter fraud" during the attempt to qualify 18,000 provisional and absentee ballots cast in last week's presidential election. "In counting the first 5,000 provisional ballots," Fund reported, "observers turned up 53 instances of individuals voting more than once. They also found four voters who were dead and dozens of felons attempting to vote....

New Mexico is going through what seems to have become its traditional post-election vote-counting dilemma, with confusion and rhetoric in great supply. One feeds the other and it's not good for the integrity of the process. This year brought a new wrinkle with thousands of provisional paper ballots on top of a bumper crop of absentee and so-called in-lieu-of-ballots. More than 19,000 of these ballots remain to be verified or counted, or both. It's anyone's guess how many will be disallowed if the voter's eligibility cannot be confirmed. The number of outstanding ballots -- and potential votes -- is greater...

Results for: Statewide Results Number Of Voters: 697032 Results as of: 11/3/2004 1:34:51 PM Candidate or Issue Party Votes Percent PRESIDENT AND VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES JOHN F. KERRY and JOHN EDWARDS Democratic 339261 (48.1%) GEORGE W. BUSH and DICK CHENEY Republican 357811 (50.8%) DAVID COBB and PATRICIA LaMARCHE Green 1140 (0.2%) MICHAEL PEROUTKA and DR. CHUCK BALDWIN Constitution 730 (0.1%) MICHAEL BADNARIK and RICHARD V. CAMPAGNA Libertarian 2211 (0.3%) RALPH NADER and PETER MIGUEL CAMEJO Independent 3714 (0.5%)

Put info and links about New Mexico here.

Wild swing for Bush today at Trade Sports with regard to New Mexico. Goes from 46 to 60 in one day.

GOP Could Pick Up 5 House Seats by John Gizzi Posted Oct 22, 2004 With a week to go before Americans vote in all 435 congressional districts, Republicans look poised to expand their majority in the U.S. House of Representatives, based largely on favorable redistricting since the 2000 census. In the swing states of Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania, Republicans managed to dominate the redistricting process after the census, raising the number of safe Republican seats there. In Texas, a masterful (if controversial and belated) redistricting is now almost certain to yield the bulk of national Republican gains in this election...

Bush attempts to woo voters in New Mexico BY P. CHRISTINE SMITH AVALANCHE-JOURNAL HOBBS, N.M. — President George W. Bush rallied for re-election before a crowd of about 15,000 people Monday morning, reiterating major campaign issues including terrorism, the war in Iraq, health care and the economy. The first sitting president to ever visit the city, Bush got right to the point, asking for the support of people from a state he lost to Al Gore by 366 votes in 2000. "I'm here to ask for your support. That's what I'm here to do," he said above the crowd's cheers....

Hobbs geared up for presidential visit BY KATIE HEPBURN AVALANCHE-JOURNAL With New Mexico's five electoral votes up for grabs in this year's horse-race of a presidential election, the state takes on national importance this week as both donkeys and elephants stampede the state. President Bush will land in Hobbs aboard Air Force One at 8:45 a.m. MDT today, less than 24 hours after challenger John Kerry held a campaign event in Albuquerque. Bush to visit Hobbs 9:15 a.m. (all times MDT) • Lea County Event Center parking lot • Gates open at 5 a.m. • Preliminary programs will begin near...

We've grown used to a presidential visit closing aviation facilities but the effect is usually temporary. Las Cruces (New Mexico) International Airport closed one of its three runways indefinitely after George W. Bush's entourage left an indelible mark. A C-17 accompanying Air Force One created ruts more than 2,500 feet long when it backed up to get in position for takeoff there last Thursday. Damage is estimated at $1 million. (Oops.) Airport Manager Theresa Cook told AVweb that the president's travel team was warned that the asphalt runway (in the middle of a Southwest summer day) might not handle the...

Bernalillo County voters who registered through a third party and did not show identification when they registered will have to do so at the time they vote, a state district judge ruled in Albuquerque today. Judge Robert L. Thompson agreed today to issue a temporary restraining order that in essense challenges the way the secretary of state has interpreted a law requiring identification for all first-time voters, either at the time they register by mail or at the time they vote. "We're all finding that every vote counts," Thompson said this morning in disclosing his decision. The temporary restraining order...

Bush Rally in Albuquerque, NM 8/26

Hastert stumps for Neugebauer By SEBASTIAN KITCHEN AVALANCHE-JOURNAL ABILENE — U.S. House Speaker Dennis Hastert told business people here Wednesday that he believes Republicans can capture more seats in Congress during the November election. "Texas is a great opportunity," he said. Hastert, R-Ill., campaigned in Abilene for U.S. Rep. Randy Neugebauer, R-Lubbock. About 75 people attended the event at the Abilene Civic Center. Neugebauer's race with fellow incumbent Charlie Stenholm, D-Abilene, is one of several that Republicans are hoping to win to increase their margin in the U.S. House. Hastert said he has heard people predict Republicans will acquire an...

New Mexico Couple Who Kidnapped Boy After Failed Adoption Say They Have No Regrets The Associated Press ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) - The man Matthew Propp calls his father has returned home after serving two years in prison for kidnapping him as a young boy, but Propp says his family's ordeal will never really end. "I think for everyone involved, there will always be part of this with us," Propp, now 25, told reporters outside Barry and Judith Smiley's Albuquerque home Saturday, a day after Barry Smiley was freed. The Smileys claimed to have adopted Propp in 1979, when he was...

Firefighters Battle Blaze in Albuquerque That Destroys Two Homes Melanie Dabovich/Associated Press Jun 10, 2004 ALBUQUERQUE (AP) - Firefighters battled a wildfire Thursday that destroyed two houses before flames jumped across the Rio Grande and forced evacuations in surrounding neighborhoods. Fire crews initially responded to a house fire but wind gusts up to 35 mph carried the blaze to a second home nearby and then to trees across the river, said Fire Chief Bett Clark. Sixteen homes were evacuated. A huge plume of smoke rose into the sky as fire engines were positioned to help protect homes, and a helicopter...

          URGENT - IMMEDIATE BROADCAST REQUESTED   SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH NUMBER 121   NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER NORMAN OK   220 PM CDT SUN APR 25 2004      THE NWS STORM PREDICTION CENTER HAS ISSUED A   SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH FOR PORTIONS OF              NORTHEAST NEW MEXICO          WESTERN OKLAHOMA AND THE WESTERN OKLAHOMA PANHANDLE          NORTHWEST TEXAS      EFFECTIVE THIS SUNDAY AFTERNOON AND EVENING FROM 220 PM UNTIL 900   PM CDT.      HAIL TO 2 INCHES IN DIAMETER...THUNDERSTORM WIND GUSTS TO 70   MPH...AND DANGEROUS LIGHTNING ARE POSSIBLE IN THESE AREAS.      THE SEVERE THUNDERSTORM WATCH AREA IS ALONG AND 80...

For Immediate Release Press Office Contact: Suzanne Lubar, 202-282-8010 March 16, 2004 In a first -of- its- kind effort to achieve an even safer and more secure Southwest border, Department of Homeland Security Under Secretary for Border and Transportation Security Asa Hutchinson today unveiled the "Arizona Border Control (ABC) Initiative." The kick-off event attended by Congressman Jim Kolbe, U.S. Attorney for Arizona Paul Charlton and dozens of federal, state and local law enforcement officials, as well as a delegation from the Government of Mexico was held at the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) Air and Marine Operations Hangar in...