By: Jim Townsend

As a matter of law and especially in a time of low voter confidence, our Secretary of State should be working hard to ensure we have honest elections, without any hint of voter fraud.  Both sides have strong feelings that the other side somehow stole the election. This has been going on for a long time.  Al Gore people “know” Bush stole the election, Hillary people “know” Trump stole the election, Trump people “know” Biden stole the election.  We can point to many elections where the confidence in the election result is weak.

This lack of voter confidence is the real threat to democracy.  Our institution only works when people believe in it. When the people who have the right to vote also have low confidence in the election results, our Republic is truly at risk. We are a representative republic, election integrity matters. 

Yet, the New Mexico Secretary of State just sent 105,000 postcards to people with New Mexico Driver’s Licenses stating that they may be eligible to vote, knowing full well many are not US Citizens.  The Secretary of State acknowledges this list may include some individuals known to be non-citizens.  This is where the problem begins.  There are many people in New Mexico who are foreign nationals, here legally, who have a New Mexico Driver’s License and a “work only” Social Security card.  However, with a special invitation from the top election’s official in New Mexico, they are being notified that they may go the NMVOTE.ORG and register.  The only safeguard is a single question that asks, “Are you a US Citizen” If they mark “YES” and enter the social security number, which is not proof of citizenship, they can complete the voter registration.  It is illegal, but there is absolutely no safeguard to prevent registration and their ability to vote.  There is no review system where any election official can verify the citizenship question. The verification is supposed to be done at the time the Driver’s License is issued. A driver’s license may be obtained with any proof of an individual’s identity and age along with New Mexico residency.  Nowhere in the process of obtaining a driver’s license is there any requirement to be a US citizen. Yet, even if the verification shows the person is not a US Citizen, a special invitation to register was sent. It is said, a law without enforcement is a mere suggestion.  On this website it is almost impossible to verify citizenship, thus it is a mere suggestion, and the integrity of the voting process is then in question.

The Secretary of State said the mailing list was developed from a database which is maintained by an organization known as ERIC.   The mission statement of ERIC, according to their website, is to help states improve the accuracy of America’s voter rolls, increase access to registration for all eligible citizens, reduce election costs, and increase voting efficiencies.  While this is an honorable objective, the accuracy portion has been a complete failure. Postcards were sent to individuals with no connection to the listed address.  The Secretary responded by saying, the data sent to ERIC came from New Mexico’s Motor Vehicle Department and any errors were made during the application for a driver’s license.  Why are so many of these invitations addressed to the same address where no one knows the individual? This is not accidental. A dozen individuals from different countries applying for licenses on different days do not accidentally use the same address!  This system seems to be corrupt.  In one case, five individuals in Chaves County used the same address, the person who owns the home built it 23 years ago and has lived in it continually the whole time.  Who decided these people should use this address?

In a state where many elections are won or lost by less than 100 votes, some by a single vote, having even a small percentage of illegal votes can make a huge difference. So, the question is why did our top election official invite 105,000 to register to vote when she knew some of those invited were not citizens and should not register and vote in our election?  Intentional or not this special invitation to register appears to encourage voter fraud.

The Secretary of State has, so far, refused to provide the concerned legislators with the names and addresses of the mailing list. This brings up additional questions regarding if or how the list may have been ‘massaged’.  Were the invitations only to individuals favored by one group or party?  New Mexico taxpayers paid for this, and we deserve answers.  In an age of much distrust in our voting policies and procedures, full transparency must be the order of the day.  Nothing less is acceptable.

Everyone who is truly eligible to vote should vote. Don’t let this voter integrity issue stop you, VOTE, but only if you are a true US Citizen. 

If you know of someone voting illegally, please notify us. We will help to see that they are prosecuted by appropriate law enforcement officials.

William Sharer, State Senate, District 1

Pat Woods, State Senate, District 7

David Gallegos, State Senate, District 41

James Townsend, State Representative, District 54

Larry Scott, State Representative, District 62

Candy Spence Ezzell, State Representative, District 58

Jim Townsend of Artesia is a State Representative from District 54, Eddy, Chavez, and Otero Counties and State Senator-elect from District 34, Otero and Eddy Counties.