On Monday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham sent a letter to employees of the State of New Mexico, urging them not to gather on Thanksgiving with their families. The letter comes as the Governor has closed down “non-essential” businesses during her latest shutdown and limited “big box stores” and groceries from having more than 75 people per store, forcing people to stand in the November cold for essential items and food ahead of the holiday.
The Governor’s letter read, “This is not a normal holiday season. I know we all wish it wasn’t that way. But it is. Gathering for Thanksgiving this year in the traditional manner poses an extreme risk to the health and safety of your loved ones, your friends and yourself.” She added, “the virus is at large. And it is deadly. I am asking you to please take precautions to protect yourself your loved ones and others.”
The letter continued:
I know it’s hard—really. hard. I know we’re all so tired of this. I am too. I want to hug my family more than anything in the world. We all do. But it’s just not worth the risk right now. We can replace Thanksgiving dinner, but we cannot replace one another.
So I am asking you to please stay home this holiday and to limit your celebrations to the people who live in your home. If you’re worried about hurting a loved one’s feelings by telling them you’re taking these precautions, I understand. But taking these precautions is the best way to show you care right now.
Previously during a COVID-19 briefing, Lujan Grisham warned against hugging loved ones, instructing New Mexicans, “no hugging,” and “do not get close to household members.”
.@GovMLG during press conference: "No hugging" when "mixing households" over the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday pic.twitter.com/YmWVr3QkXs
In another briefing where the Governor announced a two-week lockdown over the Thanksgiving holiday, she shamed mourners for attending funerals, and at another press conference, she instructed New Mexicans to wear masks inside their own homes. She also instructed Thanksgiving gatherings to be fewer than five people, which she later admitted as unenforceable.
.@GovMLG threatens new lockdowns if people do not wear masks in their own homes “You cannot get close to other humans.” pic.twitter.com/OXvWjmXQEn
The letter from Lujan Grisham to state employees shows her latest attempt at trying to restrict peoples’ freedoms during the holidays, despite COVID-19’s 96% survival rate.
On Sunday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office claimed that people being forced to stand in long lines outside of “essential businesses” such as Walmart, Albertsons, Costco, and other locations due to her public health orders restricting grocery stores were just “Republican talking points” that were “politically motivated.”
The Associated Pressreported, “More than 20 essential businesses across the state were shut down as of Friday, of which nearly half were grocery stores or major retailers. The closures include two Walmarts in Albuquerque, a Walmart in Santa Fe, a Target in Santa Fe, and an Albertson’s in Roswell.” The shortage is causing a backlog at other grocery stores, which are limited by how many people can be inside at any current time. This is forcing New Mexicans to stand in lines outside for up to two hours.
The Governor’s office further claimed, “The state is not forcing anyone to stand in a crowded line, as you suggest.” These claims were untrue and easily disprovable
However, the Governor’s office is dead wrong. Below are countless examples of places across New Mexico where citizens were forced to stand in long lines. Upon the news that limits of 75 people inside each store, retailers pre-emptively began limiting capacities to begin compliance with the mandate. Below is photographic proof of the lines across the state:
November 13, 2020 (before the Governor’s health order took effect): 7800 Enchanted Hills Dr. NE, Rio Rancho, New Mexico
November 13, 2020 (before the Governor’s health order took effect): Costco on 1420 N Renaissance Blvd NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico
November 16, 2020 (before the Governor’s health order took effect): 66 State Rd #344, Edgewood, New Mexico:
November 16, 2020: Sam’s Club on 1421 N Renaissance Blvd NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico
4:45 on November 17, 2020 (before the Governor’s health order took effect): Walmart on 3800 N Lovington Hwy, Hobbs, New Mexico
November 18, 2020: Sam’s Club in Albuquerque
November 18, 2020: Lowes Food, 1410 E Missouri Ave, Las Cruces, New Mexico
November 18, 2020: Smith’s on 4800 McMahon Blvd NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico
11:17 a.m. on November 19, 2020: Walmart on 2401 S Canal St, Carlsbad, New Mexico
3:06 p.m. on November 19, 2020: La Tienda Thriftway, Carlsbad, New Mexico
November 19, 2020: Walmart on 604 N 26th St, Artesia New Mexico
November 19, 2020: Fenn’s Country Market, 2001 W Main St, Artesia, New Mexico
On November 20, 2020, it was reported by an Alamogordo resident: “We had to wait in line for 45 minutes to get in – there were about 25 people ahead of us. There are 2 doors, one on each end. The other end had even more people in line. The allowed capacity is only 75 but the guy at the front told us that the store can hold over 1,000 people. They also make the poor elderly people with walkers/canes, etc. stand out there, too – absolutely shameful. Totally ridiculous.”
November 20, 2020: Target on 4900 E Main St, Farmington, New Mexico
November 20, 2020: Walmart on 233 S New York Ave, Alamogordo, New Mexico
November 20, 2020: Walmart on 400 Eubank Blvd NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico
November 20, 2020: Walmart on Main Street, Farmington, New Mexico.
November 20, 2020: Sam’s Club on 4500 E Main St, Farmington, New Mexico
November 20, 2020: Costco on 550 Eubank Blvd. SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico:
November 20, 2020: Walmart on 2250 Main St NW, Los Lunas, New Mexico
November 20, 2020: Walmart on 66 State Rd #344, Edgewood, New Mexico
November 21, 2020: Walmart on Main Street, Farmington, New Mexico.
One reader reported that on November 21, 2020, they stood in line at Walmart on Eubank in Albuquerque for two hours. They wrote, “Two hours in line to Walmart on Eubank yesterday.”
November 21, 2020: Sam’s Club in Albuquerque, New Mexico:
November 21, 2020: Sam’s Club in Albuquerque, New Mexico:
November 21, 2020: Food King, 930 N Riverside Dr, Española, New Mexico:
November 21, 2020: Walmart, Albuquerque, New Mexico
November 21, 2020: Walmart, Albuquerque, New Mexico
November 22, 2020: 3:10 p.m. at Smith’s on 751 Trinity Dr, Los Alamos, New Mexico
November 22, 2020: 3:06 p.m. at Walmart in Clovis, New Mexico. The person who submitted these photographs writes, “It’s freezing down here and there are tons of senior citizens who have to stand in line to get their scripts filled. She’s killing us.”
November 22, 2020: Walmart on 1550 Valley Drive, Las Cruces, New Mexico:
November 22, 2020: Walmart on 571 Walton Blvd, Las Cruces, New Mexico:
November 22, 2020: Target on 2541 E Lohman Ave ste a, Las Cruces, New Mexico
November 22, 2020: Albertson’s on 2501 N Main St, Las Cruces, New Mexico
November 22, 2020: Albertson’s on 1285 S El Paseo Rd, Las Cruces, New Mexico
November 22, 2020: Trader Joe’s, 8928 Holly Ave NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico
November 22, 2020: Costco, 9955 Coors Bypass NW, Albuquerque, New Mexico
November 22, 2020: Walmart, 901 Unser Blvd. SE, Albuquerque, New Mexico
49 degrees, 4:30 p.m., November 22, 2020: 604 N 26th St, Artesia, New Mexico
November 22, 2020: Walmart on 2401 S Canal St, Carlsbad, New Mexico
November 22, 2020: Walmart on 604 N 26th St, Artesia New Mexico
November 22, 2020: Walmart on 901 Unser Blvd SE, Rio Rancho, New Mexico
4:41 p.m. on November 22, 2020: Walmart, 4500 N Main St Ste A, Roswell New Mexico
November 22, 2020: Walmart at 1021 E Pine St, Deming, New Mexico
November 22, 2020: Walmart at 233 S New York Ave, Alamogordo, New Mexico
November 22, 2020: Walmart at 3728 N Prince St, Clovis, New Mexico
November 23, 2020: Smith’s at 1000 Rio Rancho Dr NE Se, Rio Rancho, New Mexico
November 23, 2020: Costco at 1420 N Renaissance Blvd NE, Albuquerque, New Mexico
November 23, 2020: Smith’s at 2110 S Pacheco St, Santa Fe, New Mexico. The other Smith’s location on Cerrillos Road has been closed by the Governor, so this location is extra crowded.
Unspecified date: Albertson’s at 1110 S Main St in Roswell, New Mexico
Unspecified date (last week): Walmart at 3800 N Lovington Hwy, Hobbs, New Mexico
On November 22, 2020, another reader writes, “Just left Sams on Renaissance, we waited about 40-45 minutes to get into a store thee at t was practically void of people! Btw, that was our third store, the lines at Walmart and Costco were longer.”
People are still sending in photographs from across New Mexico, where citizens have, indeed, been forced to stand in lines and wait for anywhere from 45 minutes to two hours just to buy basic household items and food before the Thanksgiving holiday.
The New Mexico Republican Party opined on the Governor’s lie, inviting her to visit grocery stores where New Mexicans are in long lines to get groceries.
"The spokesperson for @GovMLG said the idea of people being forced to stand in line was a 'Republican talking point' & 'politically motivated.'" Hey, MLG: Visit any grocery store in NM & then tell all those people in line that they are just "Republican talking points." Shameful. https://t.co/RD5PQ5nuTU
The statements from the Governor’s office are not only inaccurate, they are ignoring reality. These people standing in line are not “Republican talking points.” It should be noted that people from San Juan County, Bernalillo, Santa Fe, Rio Arriba, Otero, Doña Ana, and every other county in-between are suffering due to these health orders, and they are by no means an anomaly. These are real New Mexicans forced to stand in lines because of the Governor’s health order, period.
On Saturday, hundreds of pro-Trump patriots rallied at the Capitol in Santa Fe for a “Return NM Protest” hosted by members of Bikers for Trump and Schumacher’s Guns. The well-attended protest is just the latest of the weekly demonstrations happening across the state, where patriotic American flag-wielding Trump supporters have gathered to protest Democrat fraud in American elections.
Among the speakers were Couy Griffin, an Otero County Commissioner and leader of Cowboys for Trump, members of Bikers for Trump New Mexico, and other local activists.
Griffin led the masses in reciting the Pledge of Allegiance and a prayer while Leanna Derrick, a member of the Navajo Nation, led the crowd in the National Anthem.
“There’s one document that they’re after right now, and that’s our Constitution,” Griffin stated in his remarks, adding, “Some of the most radical progressives in the United States will soon be going back through the doors of this Roundhouse, and the policy that they’re going to be putting forward is going to be a policy that’s going to oppress and cripple the people of our great state of New Mexico. I hate to say that, but it’s what they’ve been doing for the last eighty years.
Griffin also touched on the proven Democrat election fraud happening across the country, calling the 2020 election the “most fraudulent election that we have ever had.” He added, “I truly do believe that the truth is going to come out, the questions are going to be demanded to be answered, the Supreme Court is going to make a judgment, and the election is either going to be deemed fraudulent — thrown completely out — or made right. We’re going to have four more years of Donald Trump, one of the two.”
Audrey Trujillo of Corrales and a woman named April from Española also spoke about taking the fight to the Democrats and overturning the fraud in the 2020 election. “The more that the fraud is coming to light, the more that people are opening their eyes,” said April.
Joshua James of the “American National Academy” accurately characterized any law violating the Second Amendment of the United States Constitution as “treason,” adding that, “there’s a hundred different forms of treason we can get these people on, but we only need one.”
Many other lively patriots addressed the crowd about the importance of supporting President Trump, standing up for Constitutional rights, and stopping the fraudulent 2020 election.
A little more from Santa Fe today! Patriots packed it out yet again! https://t.co/6f2KbwB6OP
On Friday, Rep. Ben Ray Lujan took to Twitter to claim that New Mexico’s elections–which remain in serious doubt–were “safe and secure,” despite any evidence proving his point.
He wrote, “Let me be clear: New Mexico’s elections were safe and secure thanks to the efforts of elections officials & poll workers. Efforts to cast doubt on our elections are baseless & wrong — and they distract from the smooth transfer of power Americans deserve.”
Let me be clear: New Mexico's elections were safe and secure thanks to the efforts of elections officials & poll workers.
Efforts to cast doubt on our elections are baseless & wrong — and they distract from the smooth transfer of power Americans deserve.https://t.co/mlgdo6lvOC
But Ben Ray Luján has been one of the loudest members of the U.S. House of Representatives peddling a conspiracy that Russia interfered in the 2016 elections, claiming President Trump benefitted by this. A years-long investigation by partisan Democrats found no collusion between Russia and the Trump Campaign, as well as no obstruction of justice from the Trump Administration, disproving Luján’s misinformation campaign.
During the investigation, Luján claimed, “The President’s refusal to stand up to Putin signals permission to Russia that it is ok to interfere in future elections. After today my Republican colleagues must decide if they will remain complicit or finally act to protect our democracy.” This comes after President Trump has been one of the toughest American presidents on Russia, instituting crippling sanctions on the country and shuttered Russian consulates across the nation–the very opposite of “refus[ing] to stand up to Putin.”
The President’s refusal to stand up to Putin signals permission to Russia that it is ok to interfere in future elections. After today my Republican colleagues must decide if they will remain complicit or finally act to protect our democracy.
Luján also claimed Trump “encourag[ed] Russia’s election interference,” which is untrue, and repeatedly claimed Russia “meddled” in American elections, while sharing photos of Vladimir Putin to try and bolster his baseless argument.
What does a "massive federal takeover of elections" look like?
❌ blatant gerrymandering ❌ mass voter roll purges ❌ minority voter suppression ❌ encouraging Russia's election interference ❌ villainizing Dems for making voting easier
No ties b/w Trump Admin & Russia?Then why not one honest+open explanation why so many senior Trump folks met with Russians then lied abt it? pic.twitter.com/kIqtjC8VFV
However, there is ample evidence, some even coming from the Ivy League Princeton University, showing Dominion Voting Systems–which were used in all of New Mexico’s 33 counties–can be hacked and votes can be changed. President Trump’s lawyer and former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said in a press conference this week that the campaign has a “very, very significant amount of fraud allegations in the state of New Mexico,” while Boris Epshteyn, another member of the Trump Campaign said there were “up to 180,000 ballots” in question in the Land of Enchantment–far more than enough to turn the state from Biden to Trump.
The Piñon Post has compiled multiple reports on election fraud in New Mexico, which Democrats and leftist organizations claim is “next to impossible” to occur, however, it has occurred, leading to Democrat wins at the ballot box. Ben Ray Luján’s lack of evidence in producing a narrative that voter fraud does not exist in New Mexico is a misleading claim, especially since he has spent the better part of four years erroneously peddling the “Russia collusion” conspiracy theory.
On Thursday, Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced her call for a special session to address three COVID-19 topics: housing, small businesses, and unemployment.
According to the Governor, the special session will be held on next Tuesday only, but possibly it might spill into Wednesday to work on possible $300 relief checks to individuals, relief for housing, and small business grants.
When asked about the funding of the payouts, the Governor said it would come from federal CARES Act funds.
In September, the Piñon Post sent a letter to Congress urging them not to grant Lujan Grisham any further federal funding due to her irresponsible virus spending during the first round of COVID-19 relief, which she quickly spent, as well as sate funds she spent without the Legislature’s approval. During her last special session earlier this year, Gov. Lujan Grisham vetoed $318 million in federal virus relief for local governments, including “$23 million for tribal governments and another $15 million specifically for counties in the northwest with large Indigenous populations,” according to the Associated Press.
The Governor tried to amplify the severity of COVID-19, claiming more people have died from the virus than strokes and car accidents, while also saying an American dies every second from the virus. She did not provide sources.
.@GovMLG tries to amplify the severity of COVID-19 deaths, claiming more people have died from the virus than car accidents and strokes.
During the press conference, Lujan Grisham warned New Mexicans about the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday, warning people about gathering together and urging them to buy takeout for their holiday meals — the few that are still open after her lockdown.
“Do not mix up households–coming into contact with non-household members. It is high-risk,” said the Governor. She also barred people from hugging each other.
.@GovMLG during press conference: “No hugging” when “mixing households” over the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday
The Governor later tweeted a list of places she deems non-essential and essential for New Mexicans.
On Thursday, President Trump’s legal team updated the press on their findings of election interference by Democrats, where they laid out the evidence of fraud they have, which included the states of New Mexico, Virginia, Georgia, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Michigan, and Arizona.
President Trump’s attorney, Rudy Giuliani, said, “The state that we’re looking at that would surprise you is—we have a very, very significant amount of fraud allegations in the state of New Mexico.”
We are working hard to uncover voter fraud in our state and make sure that every LEGAL vote is counted. pic.twitter.com/2DycRIcUhm
Yesterday, on the Real America’s Voice with Steve Bannon, Trump Campaign advisory board member Boris Epshteyn also said that New Mexico was in the Campaign’s sights for fraud. He said the following:
“I was alerted to the fact that in New Mexico, outside of Bernalillo County, which is the county where Albuquerque is, there was an issue with observers not being allowed to observe that has impacted, I believe, up to 180,000 ballots—180,000 ballots. Do you know what the difference in the state of New Mexico between Sleepy Joe Biden and the President of the United States?… It’s 99,000. That’s what it is. So, the State of New Mexico, which has always been ripe with all kinds of fraud and all kinds of issues, is definitely another state where we’re taking a hard look at.”
According to the New Mexico Republican Party, they are “working hard” to uncover the fraud in the state.
On Wednesday, Boris Epshteyn, a member of President Donald Trump’s 2020 advisory board, appeared on Real America’s Voice News with Steve Bannon to talk about election fraud across the country and the campaign’s efforts to expose the true results of the 2020 election in key battleground states.
Among the states Epshteyn mentioned were Georgia, Pennsylvania, Michigan, Wisconsin, Arizona, Nevada, and New Mexico.
Bannon pushed Epshteyn on mentioning New Mexico, to which he replied:
“I was alerted to the fact that in New Mexico, outside of Bernalillo County, which is the county where Albuquerque is, there was an issue with observers not being allowed to observe that has impacted, I believe, up to 180,000 ballots — 180,000 ballots. Do you know what the difference in the state of New Mexico between Sleepy Joe Biden and the President of the United States?… It’s 99,000. That’s what it is. So, the State of New Mexico, which has always been ripe with all kinds of fraud and all kinds of issues, is definitely another state where we’re taking a hard look at.”
The state Republican Party shared the video on social media, writing, “[The Republican Party of New Mexico] is working overtime to get answers and we will not stop until we do. We are exposing the Democrats’ fraud scheme and working to get the TRUE results from the November 3rd Election.”
.@NewMexicoGOP is working overtime to get answers and we will not stop until we do. We are exposing the Democrats' fraud scheme and working to get the TRUE results from the November 3rd Election. pic.twitter.com/xHrhvdUuNC
The Piñon Post has been the leading news source in New Mexico uncovering the fraud happening across the state, from the irregularities occurring with Dominion Voting Systems to Democrats harvesting ballots from senior citizens and everything in between.
There has not been an official statement from the Trump Campaign or the Republican Party of New Mexico yet on the findings of fraud in New Mexico. However, there are three races across the state still in the balance, and the results could tip many races in the Republicans’ favor, especially if the fraudulent ballot count is anywhere near 180,000.
This week, the Española Police Department announced a new gun buyback program in an attempt to disarm citizens of the city. The event is being sponsored by the anti-gun group New Mexicans to Prevent Gun Violence (NMPGV), a fringe organization that has lobbied for just about every anti-gun measure proposed in New Mexico.
The buyback, titled “Guns for Groceries” will be held on Thursday, November 19 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. at the Española Police Department, and anyone with a gun can bring it in and exchange it for a gift card to Amazon, Center Market, Food King, Target, or Walmart.
The amounts of the cards vary between the type, with semi-automatic firearms that the group calls “assault weapons” going for $250, semi-automatic handguns and semi-automatic rifles going for $200, and long guns and pistols going for $100. The guns will then be “dismantled on-site” and “forged into gardening tools.” Españolans can turn in as many guns as they would like as long as they are in working condition and unloaded.
While introducing the measure, NMPGV co-president Miranda Viscoli said, “There are too many guns,” also saying, “There was one woman who brought in 10 guns, she said she had eight more at home.”
“Once a firearm is surrendered and a gift card is issued, EPD will conduct a National Crime Information Center inquiry on the firearms to make sure they are not stolen. Police state that if a firearm is determined to be stolen, it will be entered into evidence, and the rightful owner will be contacted,” reports KRQE 13.
According to Governing Magazine, gun buybacks are “ineffective” in curbing crime and are a massive failure. “In Seattle, there appeared to be no statistically significant change in gun-related homicides after its gun buyback. A 2002 study in Milwaukee found that handguns sold back to local police didn’t fit the profile of handguns used in homicides. Buybacks, the studies seemed to say, don’t work,” wrote the publication.
The event held by Viscoli’s group appears merely to be a gun-grab, where as many firearms as possible are confiscated from legal owners, while it is unlikely any criminals would willingly turn in their illegally obtained firearms.
Over the weekend, state Sen. Jacob Candelaria bragged on Instagram about his new purchases from the expensive French fashion house, Hermés. The legislator is known for mercilessly berating State Police officers who he called to help him with hate mail.
When the officers arrived at Candelaria’s home, which appears to be an apartment building, he repeatedly mentioned that he was a state senator, that he would call Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on the officers, and finally kicked them out after he did not receive the answers he was looking for.
He also filmed a 30-minute-long video where he dramatically cried about the issue and claimed that he did not feel safe, later saying in a tweet that he now has Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) from the experience. The Governor’s office appears to have blocked out Candelaria and dismissed his melodramatic tirade.
Now, after the experience, it appears the state lawmaker, who also likes to mention in his Twitter bio that he attended the Ivy League Princeton University, has decided to treat himself to luxury goods that range from hundreds of dollars to tens of thousands of dollars from Hermés, one of the most expensive fashion houses in the world.
In a post showing off the signature orange and blue boxes with the company’s logos, Candelaria wrote, “Treat yo self. The road is long and the fights are hard—-celebrating your joy is a seditious act.”
Although the image does not disclose what specific products the state lawmaker purchased, the box’s large size means he may have purchased any number of items. Men’s scarves on the site range from $455 to $870, belts range from $825 to $5,435, and wallets range from $590 to upwards of $20,200.
Candelaria’s likely $1,000+ purchase of luxury French goods comes as New Mexicans are feeling the effects of Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s strict COVID-19 lockdowns, which now threaten even more businesses with having to close for good. Working families are still struggling to put food on the table, small businesses are not allowed to operate due to their “non-essential” status, and families are not allowed to gather for the Thanksgiving holiday with more than five family members. Candelaria has supported such lockdowns.
After the November 3rd election, with results still in the balance in critical battleground states such as Pennsylvania, Georgia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Nevada, and others, questions have been raised regarding the use of Dominion Voting Systems machines, which reportedly have switched votes from Republican to Democrat, notably 6,000 votes in one Michigan county.
New Mexico also uses the Dominion voting machines, which can be programmed to glitch, according to a report by NBC News.
Many of the products they make have documented vulnerabilities and can be subverted in multiple ways. Hackers can access voting machines via the cellular modems used to transmit unofficial results at the end of an election, or subvert back-end election-management systems — used to program the voting machines and tally votes — and spread malicious code to voting machines through them. Attackers could design their code to bypass pre-election testing and kick in only at the end of an election or under specific conditions — say, when a certain candidate appears to be losing — and erase itself afterward to avoid detection. And they could make it produce election results with wide margins to avoid triggering automatic manual recounts in states that require them when results are close.
Sidney Powell, a member of President Trump’s legal team, said in an interview, “We’re beginning to collect evidence on the financial interests of some of the governors and secretaries of state who actually bought into the Dominion Systems, surprisingly enough. Hunter Biden-type graft to line their own pockets by getting a voting machine in that would either make sure their election was successful or they got money from their family from it.”
Powell said the Trump team had identified at least 450,000 blank ballots in the key states “‘miraculously’ have only have a mark for Joe Biden and no other candidate.”
“She listed the approximate numbers of ballots that were found primarily in the battleground states: 98,000 in Pennsylvania; 90,000 in Georgia; 42,000 in Arizona; 115,000 in Michigan and 62,000 in Wisconsin,” according to one report.
According to the Secretary of State’s website, there are no contributions from Dominion Voting Systems, affiliated companies Smartmatic, Premier Elections Solutions, or Sequoia Voting Systems, nor any of their executives in the past ten years to any candidate in state government.
According to a legal document from Dominion, New Mexico adopted the voting systems in all 33 counties in 2014, during the term of corrupt ex-Secretary of State Dianna Duran, who was convicted on four counts of felony embezzlement and four counts of misdemeanor money laundering and campaign report violations. She reportedly embezzled $14,000 from her campaign account, which went into her own pocket.
During her term, Dominion’s ImageCast Evolution unit was adopted, which according to Dominion, “is a precinct-level, digital scan, ballot marking device and tabulator that is designed to perform three major functions: • Ballot scanning and tabulation • Ballot review and second chance voting • Accessible voting and ballot marking.”
Also adopted were Dominion’s ImageCast Central machines. According to Dominion, “Central scanning is typically used to process absentee or mail-in ballots. The election definition is taken from EMS, using the same database that is utilized to program any precinct scanners for a given election. Multiple ImageCast Central scanners can be programmed for use in an election. The ImageCast Central application is installed and later initialized on a computer attached to the central count scanner. Ballots are processed through the central scanner(s) in batches based on jurisdictional preferences and requirements.”
Another machine adopted under the corrupt Duran administration at the New Mexico Secretary of State’s office was the ICP-BMD machine, a ballot marking device that is supposed to be used for people with disabilities.
These machines can be manipulated, according to reports from other counties. According to the County of Santa Clara, California, the Dominion central count scanners “[a]llows staff to adjust tally based on review of scanned ballot images.”
In a sworn affidavit from Melissa Carone, an IT contractor for Dominion in Michigan, she “witnessed nothing but fraudulent actions take place,” with testimony that she “witnessed countless workers rescanning the batches without discarding them first which resulted in ballots being counted 4-5 times.”
It is still unclear if any of these vote swaps or double-counting of ballots occurred in New Mexico. Still, the state’s voting machines certainly have the capability of “glitching” or counting ballots multiple times.
Due to the newly implemented voting procedures passed in the Special Session by the Legislature, with many Republicans in the Senate voting with Democrats on the measure, it did not clearly define procedures for poll watchers, which allowed counties like Doña Ana to falsely claim GOP poll watchers were being disruptive and kick them out of an absentee vote counting warehouse. While they were kicked out, could ballots have been changed, scanned multiple times, tossed out, or vote counts “glitched”? There is at least a possibility that any of these scenarios could have occurred while poll watchers were not allowed to inspect the process.
Democrat Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver claimed after the election that any potential for rigging an election was “next to impossible,” and that “no votes were changed or ‘glitched.’” No evidence from her office has been produced to prove these points, especially given the state’s long-documented history of voter fraud.
