New Mexico Mercury

New Mexicans Deserve a No-Hassle Voting Process

By Maggie Toulouse Oliver

In a recent column, longtime New Mexico reporter Milan Simonich recounts the struggles faced by voters in Chaparral and Rio Rancho on Election Day 2012. On that day, voters in these areas waited in line for hours on end (and, in the case of Chaparral, had to suffer the indignity and intimidation of Sherriff’s deputies and crime scene tape) just to perform their civic duty. Simonich’s article reminds us that the problems experienced by voters in Ohio, North Carolina, Florida and elsewhere, though broadcast widely by the national news, were the same problems many voters faced here in our own state. The article brings sorely-needed attention to the failings of election administration here in New Mexico and I wholeheartedly agree that our state’s voters deserve better...

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