by Sharon Niederman
COLFAX — Colfax County Clerk Rayetta Trujillo reported that Larry Marker, the write-in candidate for New Mexico Land Commissioner, is requesting either tapes or copies of ballots cast in voting machines in last week’s election, not only in Colfax County, but statewide.
Marker received five valid votes in Colfax County, according to Trujillo. According to the NM Secretary of State’s website, at 2,552 votes received statewide, he stands statistically at zero in the race. Democrat Stephanie Garcia Richards won the post with 55% of the vote; Republican Jefferson Bird received 45%.
“I got all this Monday morning,” Trujillo said, “so I will provide copies of the tapes.”
Trujillo explained the procedure that is followed: On election night, the precinct board removes the ballots from the write-in bin, places them in a separate envelope, and sends them to the clerk’s office. Then, the day following Election Day, the absentee board verifies the ballots. “We have to go in and put them in to the system,” Trujillo says.
Detailed reports including time stamps, are also requested, but these are not available in Colfax County. “By law,” she says, “ we do not have to make up a report. If we have a report, we provide it. If not, then we do not.” She thought that some of the larger counties might have such reports.
The law requires a canvas of the vote to be held between Nov. 13 at the latest, Nov. 18, when the election results as well as any provisional ballots are presented to the county commission. The commission has the final say in verifying the election. Colfax County’s canvas was conducted ay 8 a.m., Tues., Nov. 14, and the 2022 midterm election results were declared official.
The State Canvassing Board meets on Nov. 29 to go through all the results one more time prior to accepting them.
Marker, who resides in Roswell, stated in his campaign literature that he was running to “end the war on oil and gas.”
