Three San Juan County races could be headed for recount, clerk says
Election Day may have been several days ago, and all the votes have been counted, but a resolution to a handful of races in San Juan County has proven elusive — and apparently will remain that way for the next few weeks.
San Juan County Clerk Tanya Shelby said it is likely that three races are so close that the state’s automatic recount law will be triggered — the District 5 seat on the San Juan College Board of Trustees, the District 2 seat on the Central Consolidated School District Board of Education and the mill levy question for the Aztec Municipal School District.
Shelby said the automatic recount law goes into effect when a particular race for a public office is decided by 1% or less of the total vote or five or fewer votes between the two candidates who received the greatest number of votes. In the case of a ballot question, the recount is triggered when the margin is 0.5% of the total number of ballots cast.
She said the New Mexico canvassing board will meet Nov. 28 to review all the state’s election results and decide if any races warrant an automatic recount. If that body decides the three close races in San Juan County meet the provisions of the recount law, the County Clerk’s Office is required to conduct such a recount within seven days of receiving that notice, Shelby said. Her office then would submit the findings of that recount back to the state, she said.
In the college Board of Trustees race, Beverly Taylor drew 866 votes (43.7%), while Judy Hale drew 859 (43.4%) votes. Third-place finisher Catherine Thomas-Kemp secured the other 255 votes (12.9%). That left a difference of seven votes or 0.3% of the total vote between Taylor and Hale.
Taylor said on Nov. 10 she had reached out to the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office for an explanation of where her race stood but had not heard anything. But she said she had received an explanation from the County Clerk’s Office about how the issue would be resolved when she called there.
Hale, who retired from the college last year before returning to work there in a part-time capacity this year, said this was her first run for public office.
“It was a very close race, and I would love for there to be a recount,” she said. “I’m a San Juan College retiree, and I was really hoping to have a positive impact for the students and the community.”
While she acknowledged she would face an uphill battle in making up the seven-vote deficit against Taylor in a recount, Hale said she remains hopeful about her chances.
“I have so much passion for the college,” she said.
Rounding out the list of close races:
In the CCSD school board race, incumbent Gary Montoya received 357 votes (50.1%) to challenger Hoskie Benally Jr.’s 355 votes (49.9%). That left a difference of two votes or 0.2% of the total vote between the two.
As for the Aztec school levy question, there were 697 votes (49.9%) cast in favor of the question and 701 votes (50.1%) cast against it. That’s a difference of four votes or 0.2% of all votes.
Shelby said her office has dealt with recounts before, and the initial vote totals that were submitted to the state canvassing board have held up.
“The recounts we have done in the past have shown no discrepancies,” she said. “Everything has matched.”
Shelby said she was not sure what would happen if any of the three potential recounts this year revealed that a race or races came out in a dead heat. She said there have been several modifications to state election law in recent years, and she doesn’t know how such an issue would be resolved.
Overall, this year’s election unfolded smoothly, she said, although turnout was light, as it traditionally is for election cycles that focus mostly on municipal offices, school board seats or judgeships. She said 7,003 people voted on Election Day, which was Tuesday, Nov. 7, while 4,259 people submitted a ballot during the early-voting period. Another 988 people submitted an absentee ballot, she said, providing for a total of 12,250 voters – 16.3% of eligible voters in the county.
The only significant issue that arose during the election, Shelby said, was that a handful of voters called the County Clerk’s Office to complain that the ballots did not include the candidates’ party affiliation. Shelby said that is by design, as the offices that were included in this election cycle have been designated as nonpartisan by state law.
“(Party affiliation) isn’t and never has been on (on the ballot) in local races,” she said, explaining that she suggested that the voters who called to complain contact their local legislators if they want to see that changed.
Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.
This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Three San Juan County races could be headed for recount
