Otero County looks to upend state voting regulations following June 7 primary election
The Otero County Commission approved three agenda items at its June 9 meeting that conflicted with state voting regulations following the June 7 primary election.
Commissioners voted to require hand counts of all ballots cast inside Dominion Voting System machines to verify vote counts, remove all ballot drop boxes and to discontinue using the Dominion Voting Machines prior to the Nov. 8 General Election.
All three items were placed on the agenda by Otero County Commissioner Couy Griffin.
"I put these on here because I feel this is what the people want and us as commissioners are to be the representation of the will of the people," Griffin said.
For a hand recount to be done, a court order must be issued by a district judge so that the ballot boxes can be opened.
The New Mexico Secretary of State's Office has a contract with Dominion to uses their voting machines during elections.
The two ballot drop boxes, which are monitored by video surveillance, are required by state statute. Counties must have two.
The measures were not in ordinance or resolution form but agenda items at the meeting that were approved unanimously by the commission.
New Mexico Secretary of State spokesman Alex Curtas said that the Otero County Commission did not have the legal authority to make these decisions.
"This is simply more conspiracy peddling by Couy Griffin and the New Mexico Audit Force," Curtas said. "There is absolutely no evidence to support the conspiratorial claims that continue to motivate their actions on these matters. The 2020 election was considered the most secure in U.S. history and New Mexico has robust safeguards before, during and after every election that ensure the integrity of every vote."
Former New Mexico State University professor David Clements and his wife Erin Clements were at the Otero County Commission meeting as was Otero County Clerk Robyn Holmes.
The Clements' presented their findings from the 2020 General Election audit in Otero County, some of which were rebutted by Holmes.
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The Clements' group New Mexico Audit Force were partnered with EchoMail to do a forensic audit of the 2020 General Election in Otero County.
Otero County had a $49,750 contract with EchoMail to do the audit which was ended April 28 by settlement agreement. EchoMail stated in the settlement agreement that it did not find any fraud in the 2020 Election in Otero County.
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Prior to the settlement agreement, EchoMail was being investigated by the House Oversight and Reform Committee which had received complaints about the door-to-door canvass being performed by New Mexico Audit Force volunteers.
Even though the contract between Otero County and EchoMail was settled, New Mexico Audit Force continued working on the audit by examining data with qualified professionals that Erin Clements did not name for their safety, Clements said via email in May.
The Otero County Commission held a special meeting Monday to decide on certifying the election results.
During the June 9 meeting, commissioners expressed their desire not to certify the election at the Monday, June 13 special meeting due to worries over the voting tabulators' accuracy, and misgivings about the safety of ballots in the Dominion machines.
The Otero County Commission did not approve the county canvass at its June 13 meeting.
Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter. If you have questions about your subscription, please contact Customer Service at AlamogordoDailyNews@Gannett.com or call 1-877-301-0013.
This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: Otero County looks to upend state voter regulations after election
