John Block

Dems join Keller to preview their extreme anti-gun bills for 2023 legislature

25 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Wednesday, Democrats previewed their extreme anti-gun bills via a press conference with far-left Democrat Albuquerque Mayor Tim Keller. Of course, the preview was marketed as “crime-focused” however, it only dealt with taking more guns away from law-abiding citizens via government action.

Keller tried pulling at heartstrings, telling reporters, “The difference between a violent crime and a deadly crime and a loss of life is typically the involvement of a firearm,” He said, “And because of that, the criminal justice system should reflect the enhancement that a life could be lost, a child could die, because of that weapon as opposed to if that weapon was not in the equation.”

Three Democrat lawmakers attended the presser, including Rep. Pamelya Herndon (D-Bernalillo).

“The purpose of the legislation is not to create another criminal penalty, but the purpose of the legislation is to remind gun owners and firearm owners that you have a responsibility to keep those firearms safely secured if you decide to own one. And when you are negligent in that responsibility, there will be a penalty,” claimed Representative Herndon.

Previously during a July Legislative Courts, Corrections, and Justice Committee, far-left Democrats mentioned plans they had to bring forth anti-gun legislation. At the meeting, opposing voices were silenced. 

As we previously reported:

State Sen. Joseph Cervantes (D-Doña Ana) threatened to make parents felons and bankrupt them if they don’t lock up their firearms. He said, “You tell parents you’re gonna lose everything you own” if they don’t lock up guns. Cervantes added he wants to sue “manufacturers and marketers of guns” while saying, “Bring it on if you think the Constitution protects unfettered use and access of guns.” He then applauded Australia’s near-total ban on firearms.

Rep. Stefani Lord (R-Sandia Park) said during her commentary, “Before we start passing insane gun laws, we need to make sure they don’t get kicked back” on grounds of constitutionality.

State Rep. Gail Chasey (D-Bernalillo) claimed automatic firearms are “weapons of war.” 

Rep. Moe Maestas (D-Bernalillo) chimed in, comparing guns to “nuclear bombs.” He said that “forty years ago, there was an SNL skit where Everyone was walking around with a nuclear bomb. So apparently, that’s come to fruition.” 

Maestas was just tapped by the Bernalillo County Commission to fill the remaining term of former state Sen. Jacob Candelaria, who quit his post. He is married to anti-gun lobbyist Vanessa Alarid.

During the hearing, far-left Democrat Albuquerque-area legislators Dayan Hochman-Vigil and Pamelya Herndon released their plans to sponsor anti-gun bills in the 2023 Legislative Session. One measure would create and beef up the “Office of Gun Violence and Prevention,” which was initially funded $300,000 in the 2022 Legislative Session. Anti-gun activist Miranda Viscoli said the department, to be comparable with states like Colorado, needed approximately $3 million in funding. 

Herndon proposed a bill forcing New Mexicans to lock up their firearms. If they did not, and their gun somehow was used in an offense by a minor, the parent of that child could be made a felon if the victim of the crime is killed or permanently disabled. As noted by even some Democrats in the chamber, the bill would be the first crime proposal to base a defendant’s sentence not on their own actions but that of someone else (a minor) who got ahold of a firearm. 

Anti-gun Dems gag opposing voices in committee as they launch new gun grabs

Toulouse Oliver threatens counties that won’t certify election results

19 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Tuesday, Democrat Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver sent out a threatening statement to county officials, demanding they certify election results no matter what or else they “will be met with swift legal action.”

The email reads, “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.”

“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,” it continues.

During the Otero County Commission meeting on certification, the board felt compelled to certify the election results, despite concerns of an “overall nationwide” problem of election integrity, according to the Commission’s Chair Vickie Marquardt.

During the presentation by Otero County Clerk Robyn Holmes, her staff said they do not know the technical workings of election machines and updating Dominion software. One staffer called it “mumbo jumbo,” adding they are not tech-savvy and that sort of thing “means absolutely nothing to us.”

Marquardt said, “We have been put in an impossible situation” regarding certification since the last time the Commission rejected the certification of the June 7, 2022, primary election, the Secretary of State’s office send a writ of mandamus compelling the Commission to certify or be removed. She also threatened a criminal referral to the New Mexico Attorney General’s office.

She added that “the state had pretty much taken the rights of the commission and authority of the commission away. We’re basically like notaries.” Counties have ten days following an election to certify election results.

The Otero County Commission ended up voting unanimously 3-0 to approve the certification of the Otero County election.

There were reports of election workers being instructed to track voters who used blue pens to fill in their ballots, and those names would be referred to the district attorney — which is a violation of New Mexicans’ civil rights and constituting voter intimidation.

Read more about apparent abnormalities in the 2022 General Election in New Mexico here.

Data analysis appears to show abnormalities in NM election results

Pete Buttigieg to visit NM, Navajo Nation

8 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

According to reporting from the Albuquerque Journal, Joe Biden’s Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg will be visiting the Duke City and the Navajo and Hopi nations this week to discuss infrastructure.

“He is set to travel to New Mexico and Arizona on Wednesday and Thursday, but more details haven’t been released,” the Journal wrote. 

This is not the first time Buttigieg has visited New Mexico, nor is it his tie to the Land of Enchantment.

The Journal noted, “The former Democratic presidential candidate has some family ties to New Mexico. Both of his parents taught at New Mexico State University, where they met before moving to South Bend, Indiana.”

In 2019, Buttigieg visited Santa Fe to attend a brunch at two oil tycoons’ house despite being a backer of the Green New Deal, which will move the industry into extinction. As we previously reported:

Buttigieg attended a brunch hosted by “Gay Santa Fe,” for high-dollar donors of 1,500 or $2,800 per person. The invite did not show much confidence in Buttigieg’s ability to win the presidency, with organizer Mark Banham writing “Regardless of whom you may support during this Presidential primary season, Pete Buttigieg has proven to be an intelligent and compelling voice on the national stage. He will no doubt be an important part of the progressive leadership of our country for decades to come.”

The event was described as “an intimate brunch at the home of Mickey and Jeanne Klein.” The Klein’s multi-million dollar glass mansion was designed by Ohlhausen DuBois Architects and is featured on the firm’s website.

Ironically, Mickey and Jeanne Klein have made their millions off of “oil and gas exploration and production,” although Buttigieg is in favor of the “Green New Deal,” which would totally wipe out the oil & gas industry, murder cows, and force reconstruction of nearly every structure. If Buttigieg was truly all for the wacky environmental policy, then he would not be brunching with oil tycoons at their Santa Fe mansion. But, this is politics, meaning it’s easy for the Mayor to say one thing, and do another with the blink of an eye.

The Kleins have given money to Joe Biden’s presidential campaign, the max contributions to Mark Kelly’s Arizona Senate campaign, Bernie Sanders’ campaign, and Sen. Tom Udall, to name a few. 

Buttigieg was apparently also roommates at Oxford University with Jeremy Farris, the executive director of the New Mexico State Ethics Commission. More information will be published when it is available about his trip.

Buttigieg has made many extreme statements, including telling hurting Americans who can’t afford gas to just buy an electric car:

Dem legislator tries to defend blatant gerrymander, gets ripped to shreds

11 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Friday, leftist Sen. Joe Cervantes (D-Doña Ana) took to Twitter to claim the far-left Democrat gerrymandered maps passed in the Democrat-dominated legislature were not gerrymandered but rather were “competitive” maneuvers. The conversation came after GOP Rep. Yvette Herrell narrowly lost the seat to far-left Democrat Gabe Vasquez following the November 8 midterm elections. 

He wrote, “To those charging me with gerrymandering – we did the opposite. We created a competitive district rather than a seat assigned one party. This is how we restore Congress to the founders’ ideals, and turn back tribal extremists entirely beholden to parties.” 

It is unclear what Cervantes meant by “tribal extremists.”

The districts rip away the old one northern, southern, and central district approach, and force communities that have little common factors into adjoining districts. The maps plunge the South Valley of Albuquerque into the southern district while chopping Hobbs in half and splitting it between the Second and Third District. The formerly northern district now snakes down the eastern part of the state to Roswell, while Albuquerque is now adjoined with Lincoln, Chaves and other counties.

After his defense of rigging the map by drawing out the only conservative-leaning district to a Democrat one by an 18-point partisan swing, New Mexicans took to the comments to call him out for his leftist hackery. 

One commenter wrote, “Lying piece of s**t… south valley is not part of the souther[n] portion of the state.”

Another person wrote, “I live in Rio Rancho, I know exactly what you did. Been wishing I could be part of a red district, but I’ve been a part of D3 with Santa Fe for as long as I can remember. 

Then, a miracle, red D2 reached up to Rio-then the South Valley grew right off it, like some weird [appendage].”

“You know damn good and well what you did. If you can’t win fair and square you cheat. It’s the Democrat way. Curry is a red county,” wrote another.

Others replied with GIFs: 

Even Brian Egolf (D-Santa Fe), the retiring House speaker, admitted to the partisan gerrymander before the redistricting process, saying, “So this is the last election for New Mexico’s 2nd Congressional District with a map that looks like it looks now.” He added, “So next time it’ll be a different district and we’ll have to see what that means for Republican chances to hold it.”

The Santa Fe New Mexican’s columnist Milan Simonich wrote in a piece after the formerly Republican-leaning district was flipped blue:

Herrell put partisan complaints ahead of everything else. She did it again Wednesday after losing her congressional seat to Democrat Gabe Vasquez.

This time is different. Herrell actually has a valid complaint.

Her 2nd District was redrawn in a blatant example of gerrymandering. The 1st and 3rd congressional districts were manipulated in similar unfair fashion to weaken Herrell.

For instance, the state Legislature, dominated by Democrats, carved Republican-dominated Chaves County into three congressional districts.

But despite the left and right agreeing that what the Democrats did was a blatant gerrymander, Cervantes is doing whatever he feels he needs to justify his partisan power grab.

City of Hobbs passes pro-life ordinance banning abortion facilities

27 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Monday, the City of Hobbs in Lea County voted 7-0 to pass an ordinance banning abortion facilities from operating in the city, a move that will effectively stop the big Texas abortion business “Whole Woman’s Health” from relocating to the city, as it previously planned. The ordinance is the first of its kind in the state of New Mexico. Other cities in states such as Texas have passed similar measures.

The sanctuary city for the unborn ordinance “blocks abortion clinics from operating,” according to Reuters. 

The full text of the ordinance reads, in part, as follows:

WHEREAS, Federal law imposes felony criminal liability on every person who ships or receives abortion pills or abortion-related paraphernalia in interstate or foreign commerce, see 18 U.S.C. §§ 1461-62, and all such acts are predicate offenses under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO), see 18 U.S.C. § 1961; and 

WHEREAS, the state constitution of New Mexico does not and cannot secure a right, privilege or immunity to act in violation of federal statutes such as 18 U.S.C. §§ 1461-62, or to engage in criminal and racketeering conduct as defined by federal law; and WHEREAS, the members of the City Commission are bound by oath to support and defend the Constitution of the United States, and the statutory provisions codified at 18 U.S.C. §§ 1461-62 are the “supreme Law of the Land” under Article VI of the Constitution and must be obeyed and respected by every person within the municipal boundaries of Hobbs and by every judge in the State of New Mexico. See U.S. Const. art. VI (“[T]he Laws of the United States . .. shall be the supreme Law of the Land; and the Judges in every State shall be bound thereby, any Thing in the Constitution or Laws of any State to the Contrary notwithstanding.”); and 

WHEREAS, the City of Hobbs City Commission calls upon the United States Attorneys for the District of New Mexico, both present and future, to investigate and prosecute abortion providers and abortion-pill distribution networks under 18 U.S.C. §§ 1461-62 and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO); and 

WHEREAS, the City of Hobbs City Commission encourages all victims of abortion providers and abortion-pill distribution networks, including the mothers, fathers, and surviving relatives of aborted unborn children, to sue these racketeering enterprises under civil RICO…

Right to Life Committee of Lea County member Lori Bova shared, “I have long advocated for life at the local, state, and national level. Sadly we just don’t have the numbers in Santa Fe to advance pro-life legislation. That is why I am thrilled our city and county leaders have been willing to listen to their constituents and take positive actions to ensure we don’t become an abortion destination in southeastern New Mexico.”

Bova continued, “With our proximity to the Texas state line, we knew even if our cities had protections in place, abortion providers would be able to set up shop in the unincorporated areas. I was encouraged last week as our Lea County Commissioners unanimously voted to move to publish an ordinance requiring clinics to abide by federal statute. I am grateful for their continued willingness to keep the life issue at the forefront.”

Clovis previously tabled a similar ordinance, while Alamogordo recently passed a sanctuary city for the unborn resolution. It is unclear if either locality will soon follow Hobbs and act upon ordinances banning abortions in their cities. 

The Lea County Commission last Thursday voted 5-0 to proceed with a similar ordinance following suit with the City of Hobbs’ to ban abortion facilities from the county.

Athens, Texas voters approved in the Tuesday midterm elections a proposition that will make made them a “sanctuary city for the unborn.”

The move by Hobbs angered rabidly pro-abortion Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, who erroneously claimed on Twitter that the “extremist” measure would “criminalize essential reproductive health care,” which is not accurate. 

She added, “This is an affront to the rights & personal autonomy of every woman in New Mexico, and we will not stand for it.”

Democrat gerrymandering ends in win for anti-police Gabe Vasquez

10 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Wednesday afternoon, Democrat Gabe Vasquez declared victory in New Mexico’s Second Congressional District race against incumbent Republican Rep. Yvette Herrell, who has held the seat since 2021. 

Rep. Herrell wrote the following in a concession statement: 

While we are disappointed by the final results, I am incredibly proud of our team and the work we did serving our district, and I am grateful for the steadfast support of so many who helped us along the way. I’d also like to congratulate Gabe Vasquez on his victory.

Two years ago, the Democrats in Santa Fe announced they would gerrymander our district to ensure they would totally control our state’s federal delegation. Unfortunately, they did just that, ignoring the will of the people in the process by splitting up communities of interest and concentrating power in urban areas at the expense of rural New Mexico voices. While this was enough to give them a victory by less than 1% in this election, I am confident in our party’s ability to retake this seat next cycle as Joe Biden’s agenda continues to damage our great nation. Stay tuned!

Vasquez, who was hand-picked by Democrat Sen. Martin Heinrich, who lives in Maryland, to run for the seat, only won due to Democrats’ aggressive partisan gerrymandering of New Mexico’s congressional map, which is currently pending in court. The map totally disregarded communities of interest and cut major chunks of the formerly conservative district into others, leaving three Democrat-dominated districts.

During the redistricting process, Democrat groups paid activists to show up at Citizens Redistricting Committee meetings and spew leftist propaganda to push for gerrymandered maps. The Democrat-controlled Legislature ultimately chucked out all the work of the supposed “nonpartisan” committee and instead just rammed through extreme partisan maps for political gain.

If the case is won by the Republican Party, it would switch the district back to the compact, non-gerrymandered previous maps, which had one central Albuquerque District and the northern and southern districts, the north leaning Democrat, while the south leaning Republican. 

The move was pushed by Democrat soon-to-be former New Mexico House Speaker, who was accused of using his power to ram through nakedly partisan maps via a dark money group, the Center for Civic Policy. 

As of Tuesday night, Vasquez and Herrell both were tied at 50 percent, with the Democrat narrowly leading by 1,277 votes.

The loss in the Second District comes as national Democrats, including U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, dunked tons of cash into the race to help Vasquez cross the finish. Polls in the race consistently showed a nearly tied contest.

Vasquez is a rabid opponent of the police, who backed “deconstructing” and defunding police departments. He supports full-term abortion, the Green New Deal, and a whole swath of other extremist left-wing policies.

Leftist groups caught offering $50 bribes for testimony backing partisan redistricting maps
Dems using dark money groups to push for heavily gerrymandered redistricting maps

After election win, MLG flees NM for Egypt ‘climate’ excursion

14 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

One day after winning a second term as governor, Michelle Lujan Grisham was reported to be leaving the state to go to an eco-leftist climate conference in Egypt.

The Santa Fe New Mexican’s Daniel Chacón reported, “New Mexico @GovMLG is traveling to Egypt on Friday to attend the second week of the 27th United Nations Climate Change Conference.” 

This is certainly not the first time the governor has fled New Mexico to go to a climate change function. 

In October of 2021, Lujan Grisham jetted off to a swanky climate conference in Glasgow, Scotland, where she brought along many of her political appointees to wine and dine with world leaders and speak about “climate change.” 

It is unclear how Lujan Grisham will travel to Egypt or how she will offset her carbon footprint, especially if she flies via jet as she did to Scotland.

Amid crises in NM, MLG to travel to Scotland for ‘climate’ excursion

It’s more than just a vote

10 Comments / Opinion / By

I love New Mexico. There is nothing more important to me than protecting the ones I love and the land that we all call home. 

We New Mexicans are a different breed. Our way of life is rich in the deeply embedded cultures our people have lived by for generations going back hundreds and thousands of years. 

But before going to pick up that delicious Blake’s breakfast burrito Tuesday, go vote first. 

The only way to save our way of life in New Mexico is by taking meaningful action. That can be done at the polls. 

Over these last four years, we have seen our culture, our economy, our children’s well-being, and our very identity be torn apart day by day. Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham not only did what she could to kill our New Mexico jobs and small businesses — she has aided and abetted in the slaughtering of our culture.

While she and others love to pander to New Mexicans with slick commercials standing in acequias or bragging about our state’s culture, they have been working overtime to destroy the fabric that binds each New Mexican together as one.

Lujan Grisham’s administration aided Santa Fe Mayor Alan Webber in removing the Don Diego de Vargas statue that used to live in Santa Fe’s Cathedral Park.

Her administration went into overdrive to indoctrinate New Mexico school children with Critical Race Theory while demeaning “territorial” settlers who came to our state for a better life. Our education system is ranked 51st in the nation behind even the failing District of Columbia, despite a supposed “moonshot” of cash slung at the schools to help plug the gaping hole. Our children remain underserved. As a graduate myself of our state’s school system, I’m surprised I can read and write, much less have graduated college. 

But now, Lujan Grisham is devaluing college educations by forcing the taxpayers to finance “free” college handout programs that will plunge our state into financial ruin. She also is trying to ram a constitutional amendment down our throats to rob the permanent fund of cash to fund “free” daycare programs in the state. This gives even more government control of our children’s education despite our actual education system being a massive catastrophe already.

Under her regime, Lujan Grisham has systematically taken apart our state’s identity and crushed our citizens.

During the pandemic lockdown, she killed over 40% of our small businesses, many family-run establishments that have been in operation for decades, if not centuries. Her lockdowns resulted in families not being able to see their loved ones at the end of their lives while irreparably harming children with education loss and medical issues due to the lack of in-person learning and the forcible masking when back in the classroom.

Albuquerque, where my family used to go for a weekend vacation to see the zoo or visit the Balloon Fiesta, has now morphed into a warzone. Heroine needles are strewn about on public sidewalks, vagrants cluster around town in tent cities, shops are forced to board up their windows, and many have fled due to the record homicides and violent crime plaguing the city.

This issue is by no means exclusive to Albuquerque. It has seeped into each and every community in our state. The governor’s refusal to take the border crisis seriously has led to countless families losing their loved ones to illegal drugs like fentanyl. New Mexico remains one of the top states for drug mortality.

While our state benefits from the generous revenues produced by the oil and gas industry, Lujan Grisham’s administration has done everything possible to kneecap the vital industry that provides critical money for our state’s education and health care systems, not to mention infrastructure. 

Lujan Grisham’s Green New Deal (Energy Transition Act) passed in 2019 is ravaging our state, with jobs lost and blackouts/brownouts on the horizon after shuttering critical energy resources such as the San Juan Generating Station. Many Navajo workers lost their good-paying jobs.

The Democrat regime under Lujan Grisham is hell-bent on ripping away our Second Amendment, with Red Flag bills passed to evade our constitutional rights and infringe on our right to bear arms. Lujan Grisham is shamelessly lavished with endorsements and contributions from gun-grabbing groups such as the Giffords Center and Bloomberg’s Everytown group. She also bashed constitutional sheriffs, claiming they were “rogue” and having a “pity party” after anti-gun bills passed.

In 2021, the governor signed a bill legalizing abortion up-to-birth and infanticide in New Mexico, stripping all protections for mothers, babies, and medical professionals. During this election, her only issue to run on is her rabid support for killing children in the womb up to the baby’s birthday while gaslighting her Republican opponent Mark Ronchetti. She now wants to spend $10 million on an abortion mill in Las Cruces to kill more Texas and New Mexican babies while also wanting to “codify” unlimited abortion into state law. In 2021, she also signed a bill legalizing assisted suicide via a cocktail of dangerous, lethal drugs.

A New Mexico under Michelle Lujan Grisham is unrecognizable now, with the devastation she and her party of far-left radical Democrats have brought on in such a short time.

It is time to restore balance, order, respect, and common sense to our state, and we must flood the polls on Election Day to save our very identity. That’s why I stood up to run for the state legislature this election and also why I ask for your vote if you live in House District 51 in Alamogordo.

I’ve had enough, and it’s time for We The People to take back our country. The only way we can make that happen is by taking a few minutes out of our day on Tuesday, November 8th, and voting up and down the ballot for Republicans while rejecting every single judicial retention question, every single constitutional amendment, and every single bond issue. 

I love our state with all my heart, and I know you do too. We must save it on Election Day. Our votes are more than just a statement. Our votes are a potent weapon to defend New Mexico against the extremists who hate us, our culture, and our way of life. Please join me in this fight by taking up arms and VOTING to save New Mexico. God bless you. 

John Block is a native New Mexican and a proud Alamogordo resident. He’s the editor and founder of the Piñon Post, New Mexico’s #1 conservative news site. He has exposed waste, fraud, and abuse across the state while bringing a conservative voice to New Mexico media through the platform. As a legislator, John hopes to FINALLY send a fighter to the Legislature to battle the Radical Democrats and restore New Mexicans’ confidence in the political system.

NM House Speaker Egolf does the unthinkable before Election Day

19 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Far-left New Mexico House Speaker Brian Egolf (D-Santa Fe), who is retiring after his current term ends, is weaponizing his political committee, “The Speaker Fund,” to viciously attack Republican state legislative candidates, specifically Greg Cunningham running against far-left state Rep. Joy Garratt (D-Bernalillo) in the Albuquerque-based District 29. 

Egolf is funding a commercial that portrays police officers as the Gestapo stopping women from getting abortions in New Mexico. The commercial features a woman driving a young woman named “Grace” to an abortion appointment. The officers in the commercial interrogate Grace about if she is pregnant. Then it shows the officers forcibly rejecting the two women from the car, with the words “REJECT GREG CUNNINGHAM” in bold, ominous letters. 

The extreme portrayal, in the attempt to stigmatize pro-life legislation, angered police officers who put their lives on the line each day to protect communities. 

The Albuquerque Police Officers Association took great offense to the commercial, writing, “Disgusting, ridiculous and insulting. Shame on you Brian Egolf – Speaker of the New Mexico House of Representatives this portrayal of officers is beyond awful. Your fear-mongering knows no limits.”

The advertisement is running on television. The race has been rated a “toss-up” by political commentators and is one of the races slated for Republicans to take back on Tuesday in the General Election. 

The incumbent, Garratt, who supports abortion up-to-birth and infanticide policies that require no protections whatsoever for medical professionals, doctors, and children, is running on a rabidly anti-life ticket. 

Cunningham has focused on his ending of late-term abortion in the state, but the soon-to-be former House Speaker is keen on using his last bit of influence to attack any and every Republican running in districts where Democrats are vulnerable.

Cunningham wrote after the commercial dropped, “In the final hours of her reelection campaign, Joy Garratt… should denounce this disgusting attack on police officers which is being run on her behalf. The sad reality is that her party has become so anti-law enforcement that she prefers to score political points at the expense of the hardworking police officers of Albuquerque.” 

In fact, the only women who have been arrested in New Mexico are those who abortionists had arrested after they botched the woman’s abortion. In 2020, a woman was arrested at an abortion facility in Santa Teresa, New Mexico, after she suffered a twice-botched abortion.

Instead of focusing on the issues New Mexicans truly care about, such as crime, inflation, and getting the economy back on track, Egolf and the Democrats are trying to use abortion as a wedge issue to push their weakest Democrats to victory. 

According to his latest New Mexico Campaign Finance System report, Egolf’s PAC, which is heavily funded by state House Minority Leader Javier Martínez, spent at least $113,400 on TV ad time and booking through November 1, 2022. Martinez dunked $89,100 into the committee during the last reporting period alone.

The Speaker Fund spent at least $54,023.96 to help Garratt during the last financial period. She also got $4,399.89 in aid from Planned Parenthood.

Election day is Tuesday, November 8. Polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m.

Reports of voter intimidation in NM: What you need to know for Election Day

13 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Tuesday is Election Day, and there are some reports already of voter intimidation during early voting that concluded on Saturday. 

According to elections expert Erin Clements, Otero County Clerk Robin Holmes “is telling her poll workers that if voters want to use their own blue pen to fill out their ballots… to WRITE DOWN THEIR NAMES AND REFER THEM TO THE DISTRICT ATTORNEY,” adding, “That’s  VOTER INTIMIDATION from a public official!”

According to NMSA 1-12-57, “After marking and preparing a paper ballot in a polling place, the voter: A. shall not show it to any person in the polling place in such a way as to reveal its contents; And B. shall feed the paper ballot into the electronic vote tabulator.” 

Therefore, the poll workers should not be able even to know if the individual used a blue or black pen to fill in the ballot.

The state statute affirms in NMSA 1-12-59 that such activity “may constitute the crime of offering a bribe, coercion of employees, coercion of voters, intimidation or conspiracy to violate the Election Code.” 

According to a guide promulgated by the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office, “A ballot properly marked with any device other than the marking device provided to the voter shall be counted,” no matter what color or type of utensil was used to fill it out.

After this revelation from Clements, Professor David Clements wrote, “I personally reached out to the Otero County Sheriff and District Attorney this evening and demanded assurances that they would take no part in the corrupt Otero county clerk’s scheme to threaten voters.” 

The Clements and others are informing voters that they should fill out their ballots on Election Day with blue ballpoint pens instead of those provided at the precinct. This will leave an indentation on the ballot that cannot be replicated by printing mechanisms in the machine, which cannot leave such a mark. Many legal documents are signed with preferably blue ink, and ballots are no exception. The machines do not have the capability of printing in blue ink.

What you need to know before you vote on Election Day:

  • To prepare to vote, you can view your sample ballot by searching your voter registration here. It is advised to print out a copy of your sample ballot and fill it in or to write down what/who you would like to vote for so that when you get to the polls, you will be prepared. 
  • There will be multiple bond issues, constitutional amendments, and judicial retentions on the ballot. All the judges up for retention are Democrat judges. All the constitutional amendments will result in either higher taxes or an increase in government overreach. All bond issues will either extend or increase taxes, while millions in tax revenue from the previous bonds have not even been spent yet. Take this into consideration before voting. 
  • All voting locations for Election Day can be found by visiting your local county clerk’s website or by searching by your address here. Polls are open Tuesday between 7:00 am and 7:00 p.m. If you are in line to vote before 7:00 p.m. and while you are waiting, the time goes past 7:00 p.m., you are still allowed to vote. Stay in line. 
  • Voting does matter. For people who say their votes don’t count, many elections across the state have been determined by a handful of votes. Every single vote counts, especially for the statewide races.
  • If told at the precinct that you already voted, voters are advised to call the sheriff. Call the sheriff if any other issues of voter intimidation or potentially illegal activity arise. All sheriff offices’ phone numbers across New Mexico can be found here. It is advised you have your local sheriff’s phone number saved on your phone for easy access.
  • If election workers try to take away your writing device or attempt to stop you from voting with it, call the sheriff. That is voter intimidation. You can vote with a blue ballpoint pen, and your vote is legally required to be counted.
  • If you spoil your ballot at the voting location (such as voting incorrectly and wanting to fix it or any other incident), please make sure your ballot reads “SPOILED” on the ballot itself to indicate it has been rejected and you are issued a new one.
  • If you have an absentee ballot and it has not been returned yet, DO NOT PUT IT IN THE MAIL. Hand-deliver it to a voting precinct on Election Day to make sure it is counted. If you put it in the mail at this late date, your vote will not count.
  • New Mexico has same-day voter registration. If you are not registered to vote yet, YOU CAN STILL VOTE. At the polling location, you can register to vote on Election Day by bringing a form of identification, such as a driver’s license and a utility/phone/mortgage bill to register. 

For any other information about voting, New Mexicans are urged to visit NMVote.org. The phone number for the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office is 505-827-3600 (Option 2).

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