elections

MLG’s election reform bill passes NM House after initial failure, moves to concurrence

6 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Saturday, the New Mexico House of Representatives passed SB-4, which was amended to exclude an emergency clause by a voice vote of 44-26 after the unsuccessful attempt at passage of the bill earlier in the day.

The first House floor vote on the measure failed on a vote of 38-32, with Democrat Reps. Eliseo Alcon, Harry Garcia, Miguel Garcia, Susan Herrera, Matthew McQueen, Marian Matthews, Joseph Sanchez, Debra Sariñana, Patricia Roybal-Caballero, Sheryl Stapleton and Brian Egolf voting against the measure.

Upon an immediate move following the failed vote by Rep. Miguel Garcia, the House voted 44-26 to revive the failed bill that he voted against. After a short recess for Democrats and Republicans to meet in their respective caucuses, members returned to the chamber and voted to reconsider the measure.

Republican Rep. Paul Bandy urged the House to vote to refer SB-4 to the House Appropriations Committee, as stated in the rules of the New Mexico House of Representatives. However, the measure died on party-lines after a roll call vote. According to Bandy’s reading of the fiscal impact report (FIR) for SB-4, the bill would cost the taxpayers $3 million, which is why he moved for Appropriations to consider it.

SB-4 passed by a vote of 44-26, with Reps. Alcon, Henry Garcia, Miguel Garcia, Herrerra, Matthews, Roybal Caballero, Sanchez, Sariñana, Stapleton, and Egolf changing their votes to YES. Representative Matthew McQueen and Candie Sweetser were the only two Democrats to vote against the measure.

SB-4, as amended, will now go to concurrence, where the Senate and the House will work to agree on the amended language by the House before the measure is moved forward. The current bill does not include language that would allow county clerks to automatically mail absentee voters ballots, but it does include language permanently allowing “declined to state” voters to change their party affiliation on the day of a primary election, while Democrats, Republicans, and Libertarians would not be allowed to.

MLG’s election reform bill passes NM House after initial failure, moves to concurrence Read More »

ACTION ALERT: Stop Dems’ automatic mail-in ballot amendment that may open door to fraud

2 Comments / Action Alert / By

🚨DEMOCRATS MAY BE TRYING TO STEAL OUR ELECTIONS AND YOUR HELP IS URGENTLY REQUESTED🚨

It was announced that the Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham’s bill (SB-4) to force through an all mail-in ballot election in 2020 would only get one committee assignment and it would be on the fast-track thanks to the Democrats’ dark-room deals and closed-off Legislative Session from the public.

The Senate Rules Committee added a critical amendment to the bill redacting language that would have forced through the dangerous option for county clerks to automatically send absentee ballots to every voter in their county — stopping language that may have opened the door to massive fraud. The bill without the dangerous amendment passed the Senate by a vote of 40-2. But radical groups are urging representatives in the NM House to add a committee and/or floor amendment to sneak the dangerous language back in.

PLEASE EMAIL NEW MEXICO SENATORS AND URGE THEM TO VOTE AGAINST THE ADDITION OF THIS DANGEROUS LANGUAGE INTO SB-4:

EMAIL NM Representatives

NOTE: if the link does not work for you, please copy/paste the below emails into the BCC line of your note to these senators and the below body text into the body of your email: 

Representative emails to copy into your BCC line: abbas.akhil@nmlegis.gov, eliseo.alcon@nmlegis.gov, anthony.allison@nmlegis.gov, phelps.anderson@nmlegis.gov, deborah.armstrong@nmlegis.gov, gail@gailfornewmexico.com, alonzo.baldonado@nmlegis.gov, paul@paulbandy.org, daniel.barrone@nmlegis.gov, karen.bash@nmlegis.gov, rachel.black@nmlegis.gov, c.brown.nm55@gmail.com, micaela.cadena@nmlegis.gov, christine.chandler@nmlegis.gov, gail@gailchasey.com, jackchd67@gmail.com, zachary.cook@nmlegis.gov, randal.crowder@nmlegis.gov, rebecca.dow@nmlegis.gov, brian.egolf@nmlegis.gov, daymon.ely@nmlegis.gov, csecows@aol.com, kelly.fajardo@nmlegis.gov, joanne.ferrary@nmlegis.gov, natalie.figueroa@nmlegis.gov, david.rsi@hotmail.com, doreen.gallegos@nmlegis.gov, hgarciad69@gmail.com, miguel.garcia@nmlegis.gov, joy.garratt@nmlegis.gov, JasonHarperNM@gmail.com, susan.herrera@nmlegis.gov, dayan.hochman-vigil@nmlegis.gov, dwonda.johnson@nmlegis.gov, raymundo.lara@nmlegis.gov, derrick.lente@nmlegis.gov, lewisfornm@gmail.com, georgene.louis@nmlegis.gov, patricia.lundstrom@nmlegis.gov, willie.madrid@nmlegis.gov, antonio.maestas@nmlegis.gov, rodolpho.martinez@nmlegis.gov, javier.martinez@nmlegis.gov, marian.matthews@nmlegis.gov, matthew.mcqueen@nmlegis.gov, roddmontoya@gmail.com, greg.nibert@nmlegis.gov, jpandp@comcast.net, bill.rehm@nmlegis.gov, andrea@andrearomero.com, andres.romero@nmlegis.gov, pat.roybalcaballero@nmlegis.gov, angelica.rubio@nmlegis.gov, patricio.ruiloba@nmlegis.gov, tomas.salazar@nmlegis.gov, joseph.sanchez@nmlegis.gov, debbie.sarinana@nmlegis.gov, gregg.schmedes@nmlegis.gov, larry.scott@nmlegis.gov, nathan.small@nmlegis.gov, melanie.stansbury@nmlegis.gov, sheryl.stapleton@nmlegis.gov, jamesstrickler@msn.com, candie.sweetser@nmlegis.gov, liz.thomson@nmlegis.gov, townsend@pvtn.net, christine.trujillo@nmlegis.gov, jimtrujillo@msn.com, linda.trujillo@nmlegis.gov, martin.zamora@nmlegis.gov

Draft email language to copy into your email:  

Dear Representative,

My name is [YOUR NAME] and I am asking you to vote against any proposal to add redacted language back into SB-4, the election reform bill. The redacted language would allow county clerks to automatically send absentee ballots to voters, which opens the door to massive election fraud.

Elections are the foundation of our democracy. Access to polling locations is vital, and ensuring no fraud occurs in our elections is essential to election fairness. Automatically sending out absentee ballots to archaic voter rolls that have not been cleaned in years creates a vast potential for our elections to be hijacked by bad actors.

Thanks to New Mexico’s county clerks, every citizen was allowed to vote safely in-person during the June 2020 primary election despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Democratic Bernalillo County Clerk Linda Stover reaffirmed this, saying that in-person polling places were “probably one of the safest places to be in town.” In-person voting with the option to request an absentee ballot should be upheld.

Part of good governance is ensuring that our electoral systems remain accessible to all voters. We do NOT need more expense, red tape, and a lack of election integrity. Please VOTE NO to any committee or floor amendment to SB-4 adding automatic mailing of absentee ballots to voters. The OPTION to order an absentee ballot should be that of the voter — not the government. Thank you.

Sincerely,

[YOUR NAME] [ADDRESS] [EMAIL] [PHONE NUMBER]

————————————————————— 

Thank you for emailing these senators and for your urgent action to protect our election integrity!

ACTION ALERT: Stop Dems’ automatic mail-in ballot amendment that may open door to fraud Read More »

Toulouse Oliver uses COVID-19 spread to help Guv force through election changes in special session

6 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

According to an email sent by New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver to county clerks, she is relying on an expected spread of COVID-19 to push through partisan election changes in the upcoming special session of the Legislature starting on June 18th. 

In the email obtained by the New Mexico House Republicans, Toulouse Oliver writes, “I (and others) have been working closely with the Governor and her staff to ensure that she will place election matters on the call for the special session.”

“I know we all felt hamstrung by the current Election Code during the Primary and, given those limitations (and the likely budgetary implications) heading into the fall when we may have a resurgence of the virus, I think she understands that we as election administrators need more flexibility to manage the election effectively this fall,” continued Toulouse Oliver.

Toulouse Oliver also said the bill she is working with Democrat Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto on to push for election changes, will closely reflect an April letter signed by her and multiple county clerks urging for an all mail-in primary election, with the option for voters to hand-deliver their absentee ballots and the in-person voting options for those with physical disabilities, with COVID-19 as the reason.

According to the latest numbers, COVID-19 has been on a downward decline nationwide, with New Mexico’s cases increasing by over 50%.

The New Mexico House Republicans blasted Toulouse Oliver for utilizing the health pandemic to force through an all mail-in election, writing, “If you thought [New Mexico Democrats] would pass up an opportunity to hyper-politicize our budget instead of focusing solely on solving the economic crisis CREATED by the forced shutdown, YOU’D BE MISTAKEN.”

The New Mexico Supreme Court in a unanimous decision rejected Toulouse Oliver and Ivey-Soto’s partisan petition to have an all mail-in primary election, citing the lack of statutory law to allow such a measure. 

Now, during the Governor’s special session to fix her irresponsible budgeting in the 2020 Legislative Session, she and Ivey-Soto will likely claim changing the Election Code is a budgetary issue, hoping to sneak in all mail-in elections that way, with the hopes of a new COVID-19 resurgence in the Fall. 
Although legislators will be meeting for the special session in Santa Fe, the Capitol will be closed to the public, and no in-person testimony on the critical measures will be allowed. A bipartisan group of legislators is currently petitioning the New Mexico Supreme Court to allow in-person testimony.

Toulouse Oliver uses COVID-19 spread to help Guv force through election changes in special session Read More »

In massive victory, Yvette Herrell wins GOP nomination for CD-2

5 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

Late on Tuesday night, after a contentious three-way primary between former state Rep. Yvette Herrell, millionaire oil lobbyist Claire Chase, and Las Cruces businessman Chris Mathys, it was finally called that Herrell would be the Republican chosen to face-off against first-term Democrat Rep. Xochitl Torres Small in November. 

At around 8:35 A.M. on Wednesday, Herrell carried 45% of the vote to Chase’s 32% and Mathys’ 24% with 596/641 precincts partially reporting. The Associated Press and local news outlets have safely called the race for Yvette Herrell.

Over the course of the heated primary, the candidates took shots at each other, mainly over their support for Trump, however, the voters appear to have chosen the “Trumpiest” of all, Yvette Herrell. 

During her time in the New Mexico House of Representatives, Herrell sponsored multiple pro-life bills, as well as championed conservative fiscal and energy policy. 

Herrell’s win marks a rematch between her and Torres Small, who “won” in 2018 after absentee ballots were found out of nowhere and miraculously gave her a win over Herrell after the race was already called for Herrell. A subsequent audit found massive fraud and statistically impossible results.

But Herrell will once again face off against the far-left Democrat to reclaim the seat for Republicans, with President Trump at the top of the ticket.

This is a developing story…

In massive victory, Yvette Herrell wins GOP nomination for CD-2 Read More »

Today is the GOP Primary! Here’s what you need to know before you vote — and why voting matters

Leave a Comment / New Mexico, Opinion, Politics / By

Today is the 2020 Republican primary, and New Mexicans will be heading to the polls to cast their votes for the nominees who will take on the Radical Democrats in November’s General Election. If you haven’t been following the primary too closely, that’s okay — here is some info to know before you vote today!

The Candidates

All three congressional districts have multiple candidates running and depending on your location, you will have a variety of candidates to choose from. If you are unsure what your district is, check your voter registration here. 

In the First Congressional District in the Albuquerque metro area, millennial attorney and fresh Republican face Jared Vander Dussen faces off against perennial candidate Michelle Garcia Holmes, who previously ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor and Albuquerque mayor. Also in the race is Brett Kokinadis, a former Democrat who ran the group, “New Mexico Democrats for Democracy.” The race will test if CD-1 Republicans are ready for energetic, new blood or if they will opt for a more familiar candidate.

In the Second Congressional District race in Southern New Mexico, former state Rep. Yvette Herrell faces off against deep-pocketed millionaire lobbyist and Trump critic Claire Chase, who once called President Trump an “a**hole unworthy of the office,” but now swears she supports the 45th Commander-in-Chief. Also in the race is Las Cruces businessman Chris Mathys, a veteran and former Fresno, California city councilman. The race’s winner will advance to the General Election and face-off against one-term incumbent Democrat Rep. Xochitl Torres Small, who votes with far-left Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), 94% of the time.

In the Third Congressional District in Northern New Mexico, three Republicans face off for the nomination. Former oil and gas administrator Alexis Martinez Johnson will face small businesswoman Karen Bedonie and former Santa Fe County Commissioner Harry Montoya. The race has not been as contentious as the CD-2 race, but it has had its ups and downs.

The United States Senate race is a big one — and in recent months it has turned increasingly heated. Former college professor and Trump Administration official Dr. Gavin Clarkson faces off against pro-life leader Elisa Martinez and former television weatherman Mark Ronchetti. Clarkson and Martinez have years of conservative credentials in their respective fields, while Ronchetti has no previous Republican Party support to speak of and has never voted in a primary election. Ronchetti also has been a staunch critic of President Trump, just in 2019 claiming the President made him leave the Republican Party, calling Trump “the Orange One,” who has taken a “part of his soul” that he’s “not getting back.” Voters will decide whether they want a proven pro-Trump conservative or a fair-weather NeverTrumper.

There are not many state legislative seats with contested primaries, but two Senate seats in New Mexico’s 19th and 41st districts have Republican incumbents being challenged by state representatives vacating their House seats to make a run for the upper chamber.

Rep. Gregg Schmedes, arguably one of the most vocal conservatives in the state, is challenging incumbent Jim White for Senate District 19 in Bernalillo, Sandoval, Santa Fe, and Torrance Counties. Schmedes won his House seat in 2018 and has been outspoken on just about every issue important to conservative voters. 

Senator Jim White has been around a long time, having served in the House and the Senate. He was elected to his Senate seat in 2016. White has one of the least conservative voting records of any Republican in the state—voting for both of Democrat Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham’s disastrous budgets, and for the anti-business, job-killing New Mexico “Green New Deal” in 2019. 

Rep. David Gallegos is challenging incumbent Gregg Fulfer for Senate District 41 in Eddy and Lea Counties. This is actually Fulfer’s first time running for office, as he received his seat by appointment when his father-in-law, Carrol Leavell, retired after 22 years in the legislature. 

David Gallegos has been a State Representative for District 61 for 8 years. Gallegos is a somewhat soft-spoken gentleman but isn’t short on conservative spiritedness. He can usually be seen whenever there is a pro-life or 2nd Amendment rally in Santa Fe, and even organizes the concealed carry trainings for other legislators at the statehouse. 

Where do I vote and who will be on my ballot?

Voting begins at 7:00 A.M. this morning, and polls close at 7:00 P.M. this evening. You can find your polling location here. If you ordered an absentee ballot, PLEASE DO NOT DROP IT IN THE MAIL. Deliver your ballot directly to a polling location. 

If you are unaware of all the choices that will be on your ballot, you can see your sample ballot by checking your voter registration here. 

FIND YOUR POLLING LOCATION
see your sample ballot

Why Voting in the Primary Matters

This election is a turning point for New Mexico, and the Republicans we vote for today will advance to the General Election. In simple terms, the stronger the candidates we choose in the primary are, the better their chance of winning in November. We must choose the most electable candidates who can bring conservatives together and give Democrats a run for their money in the General Election.

If we lose in the General Election to the Radical Democrats and don’t clinch a Republican majority in the New Mexico House or Senate, we will have a rough time since Democrats will no doubt gerrymander legislative seats to make them less competitive and harder for Republicans to ever win again. Since this is a census year, this will impact the candidates we choose this election. Our votes we make today will mean political life or death for our legislature — the governing body of our state and the only body that can hold an out-of-control governor accountable. 

Your vote today means a contribution to the future of our state, and will help lead us into a strong General Election. With President Trump at the top of the ticket — he needs us now more than ever to show up and vote for him and candidates who support him. It’s one of our last chances to make a difference for New Mexico.

Today is the GOP Primary! Here’s what you need to know before you vote — and why voting matters Read More »

Dems cry ‘voter suppression’ after Dem-majority NM Supreme Court blocks all-mail election

2 Comments / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

On Tuesday, the New Mexico Supreme Court dealt Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver and the Democrat Party a crippling blow in their attempt to use the COVID-19 pandemic to push for an all mail-in ballot election, despite New Mexico’s ancient voter records.

The Court unanimously sided with the Republican Party of New Mexico, with Chief Justice Judith Nakamura saying, “The relief that is requested is specifically prohibited by New Mexico statute … which says that a mail ballot shall not be delivered by the county clerk to anyone other than the applicant for the ballot.”

The Court found a solution to the pandemic concerns with in-person voting by ruling that the state should send out absentee ballot applications to be filled out and sent back, which both followed current statute and curbs potential for widespread fraud. 

A deep-dive from the Public Interest Legal Foundation found countless instances of inconsistencies in the New Mexico voter rolls, with 3,168 registrants flagged with duplicate concerns, 1,681 dead residents, 1,519 voters aged over 100 years old, 64 of which are aged over 120, and 188 registered with a commercial address. — # of Registrations flagged for duplicate concerns: 3,168

The Republican Party of New Mexico hailed the Supreme Court’s decision, writing in a statement, “The court’s refusal to rewrite New Mexico election law—to allow the unsolicited mailing of live ballots as part of an all vote-by-mail (VBM) election–shows the proper respect for the importance of election integrity, even in the face of the challenges posed by COVID-19.”

The hard-left dark money Democrat Party-linked 501c4 nonprofit “ProgressNow NM” bemoaned the Court’s decision to follow written law, claiming “this is a rough day for democracy in New Mexico,” despite the ability of citizens to vote legally with absentee ballot applications.

Secretary of State Toulouse Oliver sent out a statement begrudgingly accepting the decision, saying, “My office will comply with the court’s order and mail absentee ballot applications to all voters registered with a major political party. That’s why it’s important that eligible voters register to vote or update their voter registrations by May 5.”

The Democrat Party of New Mexico sent out a statement once again using the COVID-19 crisis as a pelting board to launch attacks at the Republican Party. The statement claimed the NM GOP is attempting to “suppress the vote,” despite the Party asking for the Court to rule in the bounds of current law. 
The New Mexico Supreme Court is made up of four Democrats and one Republican.

Dems cry ‘voter suppression’ after Dem-majority NM Supreme Court blocks all-mail election Read More »

Dems could call special session to mandate all mail-in ballot voting, opening door to massive fraud

1 Comment / New Mexico, News, Politics / By

According to a post shared by New Mexico Republican House Leader Rep. Jim Townsend (R-Artesia) from Shauna Abney of the “United Conservative Movement,” Democrats are “changing their tune,” and will call for a remote special session.

According to the statement from Abney, Democrats will make up the rules of the session “along the way,” and will be using the special session for “political gain” rather than the COVID-19 pandemic. 

“There is no intention of addressing the vital concerns regarding the economic crisis that small businesses, the people or the state are suffering from. Instead, this session will only be focused on trying to change legislation to allow for the Democratic agenda of all mail-in ballots.

This is a strong arm push to corrupt our election process and silence our voices. We are a state notorious for election fraud and the mail-in ballot only process has absolutely NO checks and balances to ensure that mass voter fraud doesn’t happen,” writes Abney.

In an opinion piece by Rep. Townsend in the Carlsbad Current-Argus, “Under the guise of the current public health emergency, there is a coordinated attempt to create an all- mail-in ballot system for future elections.  No one should confuse a mail-in ballot with an absentee ballot, there are substantial differences. Under absentee voting, registered voters must request a ballot with proof of voter eligibility, and then return that ballot to the county clerk to be counted.   However, in a mail-in election, country clerks would simply send ballots to every registered voter based on where their address is listed, even if they did not request a ballot.”

“Tens of thousands of ballots will be sent to addresses where the voter no longer resides which could result in thousands of registered voters never receiving a proper ballot, or equally troubling, people could vote under another person’s name,” Townsend added.

Last month, when Republican lawmakers urged Gov. Lujan Grisham to call a special session to respond to budgetary concerns, they were met with pushback from Democrats, despite state revenues plummeting due to lower oil and gas production due to the oil price war with Saudi Arabia and Russia. 

Amid the prospect of the Governor calling for a special session, New Mexico House Speaker Rep. Brian Egolf (D-Santa Fe) said he’d consider holding a potential session with the bare minimum amount of members (36), or the use of internet meetings. “If we feel comfortable about the constitutionality of not meeting in person,” Egolf said, “I think the way we’d do it is through Zoom or something like it.”

But according to Rep. Rod Montoya (R-Farmington), web-only sessions would not be legal. “We don’t have anything in our Constitution that allows us to do a virtual meeting,” Montoya said. “That’s not something we can do. (Egolf) doesn’t seem to care what the Constitution says.”

If the Democrats call the special session to mandate all mail-in voting, it could open the doors to massive voter fraud in the state, as we saw in 2018 with New Mexico’s 2nd District election, where massive signs of fraud were found. 

Abney is urging citizens to contact Gov Michelle Lujan Grisham’s office, writing, “Please call the governor at (505) 476-2200 or fill out a contact form at the link:

https://www.governor.state.nm.us/contact-the-governor/ and tell her we will not stand for an all mail-in primary election and IF a special legislative session is convened, it better be held to address the state, business and people directly or indirectly hurt by the COVID-19 pandemic!”

Dems could call special session to mandate all mail-in ballot voting, opening door to massive fraud Read More »

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