Otero County certifies 2022 general election results
The Otero County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to certify the canvass of the 2022 general election results for Otero County Nov. 15, though chair of the Commission Vickie Marquardt said she continued to believe that elections were being tampered with nationwide.
"If we don't certify we've been down this road before... and if that happens the governor gets to replace us," Marquardt said. "I feel like someone is coming after us no matter the way we go."
In June, the Otero County Commission declined to certify the results of the county's primary election. In response, the Secretary of State's Office filed a writ of mandamus to force the Commission to certify and referred the matter to the New Mexico Attorney General's Office for review. The Commission ultimately reversed it position, and certified the primary election results.
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Marquardt and her fellow Commissioners, Gerald Matherly and Stephanie DuBois, fielded public comments that seemed to allege threats of lawsuits if they did certify the election. Three persons reading from the same letter during the public comment period repeatedly referred to state statues that they insisted would mean Commissions could be charged with a fourth degree felony.
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Otero County Clerk Robyn Holmes said there were no issues in the results of the canvass of the election.
Holmes did point to a hand tally done on a ballot cast at the Civic Center as a result of a "spoiled ballot" in which the voter did not wish to stay and redo a ballot, and to a jammed machine at the Fairgrounds which required the staff to do maintenance on the machine.
None of these issues, Holmes said, affected the ballot count or the outcomes of the elections in which 47% of the registered population turned out to vote, a point that Republican Commissioner-elect Amy Barela also made.
"Here in Otero County, specifically, we had a challenger at the absentee board count and found no problems with that and the process," Barela said. "Our challenger verifies that our county clerk's office verified every single absentee ballots and we can feel confident about that."
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Holmes asked Marquardt several times what specific issues she found with the canvass that would cause her to doubt the outcomes or vote for non-certification. Marquardt finally answered: "Honestly, I don't have a reason for not certifying Otero County elections. I think you guys do a good job in your office."
Instead, Marquardt said the "overall problem is nationwide," and expressed a feeling that "the state had pretty much taken the rights of the commission and authority of the commission away. We're basically like notaries," Marquardt said.
Marquardt also said she "felt bad" that the Commission was unable to deliver on former promises to enforce requirements in a resolution passed earlier this year that all ballots cast in the county be hand counted and that Dominion branded voting machines not be used in the general election.
Matherly's only statement on the issue was to read from the state code book a section on county board of commissioner responsibilities: to ensure a timely canvass and support the work done by the clerk's office.
DuBois said she had confidence in the work done by Holmes' office.
"I have no problem certifying the election because I know it's not our protocol and that's the way New Mexico was set up," DuBois said.
On Nov. 15 the Secretary of State's office issued a statement warning of the "potential disruptions to county-level election certification process."
"The Secretary of State's office has previously advised new Mexico's county commissions about their legal duties regarding election certification and a copy of that guidance is included here," an email from that office reads.
"New Mexico voters deserve to have their voices heard in full and any attempt to silence those voters through manipulation of the election certification process will be met with swift legal action."
Jessica Onsurez can be reached at jonsurez@gannett.com or @JussGREAT on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Carlsbad Current-Argus: Otero County certifies 2022 general election results
