New Mexico Mercury

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.

In my 7-plus years as Bernalillo County Clerk I have seen first-hand the struggles that many voters face just to get onto the voting rolls, not to mention cast a ballot. Many of us take for granted the fact that we have registered to vote and that our name will show up on the roster when we arrive to vote. We take for granted that we will be able to drop by an early voting site or an Election Day polling location and run in to cast our vote while the kids wait with us in line or our hot dinner waits in the car.

But that was not the case for many of our fellow New Mexicans in 2012. It is easy to point the finger and while it is up to the county clerks to ensure that enough locations, ballots and voting machines are available for voters to participate, the county clerks are not the only entities responsible for ensuring adequate election resources are in place around the state. County commissions, for example, are responsible for designating Election Day polling locations and for helping provide the fiscal resources necessary to conduct early, absentee and Election Day voting.

Additionally – if not fundamentally - the Secretary of State’s office is responsible for ensuring these resources are in place to ensure that every single eligible voter in the state has an accessible way to cast a ballot. In fact, the Secretary of State should work with county clerks, commissions and the legislature to ensure every polling location in the state is prepared to meet the voters they serve.

Just look at Ohio. After the debacle of the 2004 election in inner-city Cleveland, where there were not enough polling places and voting machines for the voters who lived there – the state now requires each county to put an election implementation plan in place, which the Secretary of State’s office oversees. This type of pre-election planning helps ensure that county clerks and election administrators adequately plan for the voters that will cast a ballot in that election. We do this in Bernalillo County and I propose we do this in every county in the state going forward in a transparent way that regains public trust in the places it has been broken.

As things stand now, we county clerks are on our own to ensure that we are making adequate preparations for our county’s voters. How that happens does not look the same in each county. And maybe it shouldn’t, each county’s needs are different. But a process should happen in each county, along with the Secretary of State, with resources provided by the state legislature and county commissions, to help provide our state’s clerks the tools and resources they need to adequately plan.

Ensuring that every eligible voter has an opportunity to register, that every registered voter has an easy and accessible way to cast a ballot and that everyone's vote gets counted accurately is the best way to ensure integrity in our elections.

That's why we must also work to expand early voting opportunities – and I applaud the Otero County Clerk for expanding opportunities for voters in Chaparral this year with a mobile voting site. That's exactly the kind of work that needs to be done to ensure fair access to the polls for every New Mexico voter.

At the end of the day, if even one eligible voter is denied their constitutionally guaranteed right to vote – by mismanagement, poor planning or any reason at all – that is one person too many.

(Photo by Vox Efx)