Toulouse Oliver threatens counties that won’t certify election results
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.
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