Otero County 2023 local election face recount for Tularosa and Cloudcroft school districts
The New Mexico State Canvass Board ordered the recount of votes in two local elections Nov. 28.
The at-large seats on the Cloudcroft School Board District and Tularosa School Board District had too thin of a margin to call Nov. 7. State election law requires an automatic recount if the margin between the top two candidates is less than 1%.
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In Cloudcroft, Daniel Hughes and Danny Ward received 24% of the votes. The three other candidates, Jeffrey Eigenmann, Cassandra Saffle and Meredith Shepherd, received 20%, 20% and 12% respectively.
In Tularosa, four school board candidates — Gilbert Gaston, Francisco Jose Gomez, Megan Cairns and Erica Walters — receive 17% of the vote. That race drew nine candidates.
Otero County Clerk Robyn Holmes said she has scheduled the audit and recount for Monday, Dec. 5.
"This process is a way of verifying that the tabulators used in the election are working properly. We have done this for numerous elections in the past and there has never been a change in the outcome," Holmes said.
Of the 1,219,760 eligible voters in New Mexico, 250,582 participated in local elections statewide, according to a news release from New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver.
“Every New Mexican should have the highest level of confidence in these official election results and in the conduct of the recently completed statewide Regular Local Election. Hearty thanks to all the election administrators and poll workers across New Mexico who conducted this election with the efficiency and integrity for which they’re known, and I want to thank all the voters who turned out to make their voices heard," said Toulouse Oliver.
Voters interested in viewing certified results can do so at the Secretary of State website.
Juan Corral can be reached at JCorral@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter at @Juan36Corr.
This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: Tularosa, Cloudcroft school board election recount ordered
