Democracy for New Mexico

Local Women Leaders to Back Griego for ABQ Mayor

Media Advisory from the Campaign for Councilor Eric Griego for Mayor of Albuquerque:

Who:
Patricia Montoya, Former State Secretary of Health
Deanna Archuleta-Loeser, Bernalillo County Commissioner
Debbie O'Malley, Albuquerque City Councilor
Melinda Rand-Kenefic, Owner, Celebro Natural Fiber Clothing
Laura Harris, Executive Director of Americans for Indian Opportunity

And more than 30 other women leaders and supporters of Eric Griego’s mayoral campaign.

Where: Centro de Amor Head Start Center (Barelas, 309 Stover SW)

When: Monday, February 21, 3:30 PM

What: Press conference

Why:  To show Councilor Griego’s strong support from the women’s community and to highlight his record of working on issues of importance to Albuquerque women.

Sign Up for Free Public Speaking Workshop

Vivian Harris, a communications professor at Albuquerque's TVI, is offering a public speaking workshop for anyone interested in running for office or giving better public addresses. This is for members of NM Democratic Friends and Democracy for New Mexico, as well as other progressive folks.

The workshop will be held on Tuesday, March 1st, from 5 :30 PM until 9:30 PM, on the Montoya Campus of TVI in Room 124 in Building J. The Montoya Campus is at 4700 Morris NE in Albuquerque. Here's a street map. And here's a map of the campus buildings.

If you'd like to attend, please call Vivian at 323-7571 and leave a message. The only requirement for attending the class is to promise to use the skills learned to help effect political change. It's requested that you select a topic of interest beforehand that you'd like to use in the speaking exercises.

Tune In Tonight

The KNME/PBS show "In Focus" will feature Sonja Elison of NM Democratic Friends discussing Governor Bill Richardson's proposed election reform bill with State Representative Danice Picraux and Amanda Cooper from the Governor's office, with Kate Nelson moderating. The show will air at 8:30 PM tonight (Friday), with a repeat showing on Sunday at 8:30 AM.

We're also pleased to note that Tony DellaFlora of the I'm Blue website will be stepping in to produce "In Focus" for several months, starting tonight. Break a leg, folks!

And be sure to email or call your legislators and Governor Bill Richardson to support SENATE BILL 1065, the election reform bill introduced by Senator Cisco McSorley, which Sonja helped draft. This wide-ranging bill includes the clearest and most precise definition of Voter Verified Paper Ballots, which represent the most effective way to assure the accuracy of our votes. Click here to read and follow the bill. You can find your legislators here.

Breaking News - Election Reform

From Mother Media:
United Voters of New Mexico and coalition will hold a Press Conference on Election Reform at the Capitol Building in Santa Fe, Wednesday, February 23rd, beginning at 10 AM. Speakers will emphasize the importance of mandating Voter Verified Paper Ballots (VVPB) and other reforms during this legislative session. Details below under the "Events" heading. Be there if Democracy matters to you.

Governor Bill Richardson's election reform bill is now available in draft form. Pick up a copy at his office on the 4th floor of the Capitol Building. While deftly negotiating the contentious voter ID issue and thankfully including provisions for a paper trail (Section 32), that paper trail is not explicitly *voter verifiable*. Therefore there is no way to guarantee that a machine has recorded and totaled the vote as indicated on the paper trail. Voters will not even get to see their paper trail before casting their vote. The exact language of the bill is as follows: "As used in this section, 'auditable paper trail' means a record that may be used by the state or its contractor to check either the veracity of a machine count or the count itself."

Action: Call the Governor at (505) 476-2200 and ask to speak with someone regarding his election reform bill. Indicate that you are pleased he has included paper audit trails in his bill, but politely insist that the paper trail be an official Voter Verifiable Paper Ballot (VVPB) for recount purposes, as provided for in Mary Helen Garcia's bill, HB1026 [details below]. Cite Nevada as a state which already uses this system and even performs *random sample audits* to make sure that the paper totals and the machine totals match. You can even indicate that there are perhaps five NASED (National Association of State Election Directors) certified HAVA compliant VVPB machines to choose from, including the one used in Nevada (Sequoia AVC Edge). Details on Nevada at bottom. Here are some possible machine options to suggest:

Populex  NASED #N-2-15-22-22-001
Sequoia AVC  EDGE with Veri-vote printer NASED # N-1-07-11-006
Avante, Vote Trakker2, NASED certification #0114-4.4.3
Accupol, NASED certification # N-2-13-11-11-001
TrueVote, NASED certification #N04005000100

Finally, note the following resolution, which was passed by the Democratic Central Committee of New Mexico on April 24, 2004:

Resolution:
      WHEREAS Direct Recording Electronic (DRE) voting machines of various kinds have been shown to be capable of producing unreliable, unverifiable results,
      WHEREAS DRE voting systems with voter-verifiable, printed ballots will be available in the next year,
      WHEREAS it would be a waste of funds to buy new systems now,
      BE IT RESOLVED that the Democratic Party insist that no new DRE voting machines be purchased until DRE voting systems are available with
voter-verifiable, printed ballots.
      BE IT RESOLVED that the Democratic Party insist that any new DRE voting machines purchased in the future use voter-verifiable, printed ballots.

Eli Lee of Soltari Inc. a strategic consulting firm has been working closely with the Governor on this bill. A respectful and constructive word with him might be effective:  505.842.5539
-------------------------
Representative Mary Helen Garcia Introduces HB 1026 - "Requiring the Use of Voter Verifiable Paper Ballots."

In response to the community's efforts in the House Voter and Elections Committee, and in particular the perseverance and dedication of Stephen Fettig of Los Alamos, Vice-Chairperson of the House Voter and Elections Committee Rep. Mary Helen Garcia has taken the lead on this crucial issue. Her bill not only provides for voter verifiable paper ballots, but it allows the Secretary of State to certify VVPB machines for use in the state even if they do not submit an application to be certified, as they now must do. This significantly increases the Secretary of State's ability to provide New Mexico with machines that address the critical VVPB issue. Thanks to all involved. The special "emergency clause" in this bill mandates the law come into effect immediately on passage, allowing the Secretary of State to act prior to her June 2005 deadline for in state VVPB HAVA machine certification. Please support Mary Helen Garcia (986-4435) and her Senate co-sponsor James G. Taylor (986-4862). Track the bill's progress (HB 1026] at https://legis.state.nm.us .

Unconfirmed reports from the Senate Rules Committee hearing indicate that Senator Gerald Ortiz y Pino and his aide Harry Pavlides (sp) may have amended the VVPB provision in their bill, SB 718 to use the language developed by Mary Helen Garcia and Stephen Fettig in HB 1026.

Gerald and Harry have led the way on this issue in the Legislature and we warmly thank them for their groundbreaking efforts and willingness to incorporate the community's input.

**** Events:

Press Conference - United Voters of New Mexico and coalition - Wednesday, February 23rd, Santa Fe Capitol Building (Roundhouse) Rotunda.

10AM - Lawsuit on behalf of NM Citizens to prohibit any further purchase of non voter-verifiable paper ballot machines.

11AM - Election Reform Day. Focus on Voter Verifiable Paper Ballot (VVPB), automatic recounts, open-source computer code, same-day voter registration, instant run-off voting and making Election Day a state holiday.

Mother Media
leland@33o.com
604 1/2 Galisteo Street
Santa Fe, NM  87505
505.982.3609

URGENT ACTION REQUEST ON NM ELECTION REFORM BILLS

CONTACT THE GOVERNOR AND YOUR LEGISLATORS NOW ON ELECTION REFORM:

Janet Resnick, Terry Riley and others from DFNM and NM Democratic Friends were at the NM Legislature yesterday pushing election reform measures. Both the Republican voter ID bill and Sen. Ortiz y Pino's election reform bill were tabled at the Senate Rules Committee. Meanwhile, Sen. Cisco McSorley will be introducing an election reform bill that Sonja Elison, Clo Barnaby and other voting reform advocates helped draft.

Governor Richardson held a press conference yesterday laying out what measures for election reform he intends to push via legislation introduced by Democrats. It was learned that Senate and House leadership will craft a bill using Richardson's proposals, along with parts of other election reform bills.

This process will be occurring today and tomorrow so it is imperative that we contact the Governor and our Legislators NOW to request the following be passed THIS SESSION:

1. Voting machines that produce VOTER VERIFIABLE PAPER BALLOTS. Using other types of auditable systems is not enough.
2. A quality assurance system that includes a required manual handcount in every precinct of a random 10 percent of the ballots, to see if they match the count being produced by the machines. If not, an automatic recount would be triggered. 
3. We need adequate funds allocated to county clerks to purchase new machines before the 2006 election.
4. These requirements and others are spelled out clearly in the election reform bill that will be introduced by Senator Cisco McSorley, which we support.

You can email Governor Richardson here:

You can find your legislators in the House and Senate here:

https://legis.state.nm.us/lcs/legislatorsearch.asp

Our folks at the Legislature yesterday had productive interactions in the Senate Rules Committee, with legislative analysts, at the press conference held by Governor Richardson where Ramon was present (with a sign), and during a conversation Terry had with the Governor in the hall. We have good reason to believe that we can achieve many of our goals concerning election reform IF we continue to keep the pressure on.

Some of our folks will be up at the Legislature again today distributing information about what we want in terms of election reform, and we must back them up via this email effort.

Here are links to front and back of the document they will be passing out, which was designed by Terry Riley. You can download them and pass them along to interested parties.

Thanks for you help!

HEADS UP: Lecture on Torture & Geneva Conventions

U.S. policy on torture and terrorism will be the subject of a free lecture by defense attorney Joshua Dratel, at Noon Thursday (2/17) at UNM Law forum, at the UNM Law Library. 

Dratel's lecture is entitled: 'Tortured reasoning : has the U.S. abandoned the Geneva Conventions after 9/11?'

NM Super DOMA Bill Defeated!

From Equality New Mexico:
We did it!  Last night, the House Consumer and Public Affairs Committee tabled House Bill 445, effectively killing the bill. Thanks to all of you who testified, wrote letters, called, and emailed.  We couldn't have done it without you!  Please take a few minutes to thank Gail Beam, Irvin Harrison, Joni Gutierrez, and Al Park!

Representative Gail Beam: 505/986-4844, gail.beam@nmlegis.gov
Representative Irvin Harrison, 505/986-4464, irv4u@cnetco.com
Representative Joni Guttierez, 505/986-4234, jonig@zianet.com
Representative Al Park , 505/986-4234

Now on to Senate Bill 597!  "Simple" DOMAs still discriminate!  Please click   to write letters to your legislators and ask them to oppose SB 597!  You will need your zip + 4 for us to identify your legislators.  If you don't know yours there is a simple tool on our letter writing page to look it up.

And consider making a contribution to support this important work. Click here to make a contribution to EQNM, and thanks again for all your help.  You made this victory possible!!!

(Editor's Note: You can read about how damaging Rep. Gloria Vaughn's bill was in an earlier post on DFNM.)

Report Finds Drilling Valle Vidal a Bust for Local Economies

Taos, New Mexico – A report released today by the Coalition for the Valle Vidal confirms drilling the Valle Vidal will undermine Colfax County’s local economy. The group is calling on New Mexico’s congressional leaders to move quickly to permanently protect the area and remove the threat of Forest Service leasing.

“The Valle Vidal makes Colfax County unique and it’s a critical piece of our economic equation,” said Colfax County Commissioner, James Marchetti.  “Drilling it is shortsighted, it destroys the very reason why our children want to stay here and others want to relocate, retire and visit here.”

The report, “Local Economic Impacts of Gas Development in Valle Vidal, New Mexico,” reviews economic trends in Colfax and Las Animas (Colorado) counties and the projected level of gas development for the Valle Vidal based on a recent Carson National Forest document (RFDS).  The report finds growing economic sectors in Colfax County include service, retirement and recreation activities.  Additionally, gas development on the Valle Vidal will bring insignificant jobs or revenues to the area, while simultaneously threatening existing, robust sectors.

Other key findings are:
• Drilling the Valle Vidal will be a net economic loss for the communities of northern New Mexico.  Recreation on the Valle Vidal currently generates anywhere from $2-5 million dollars to local economies.  Income generated from coalbed methane (CBM) drilling will not offset that loss.

• Job creation from drilling the Valle Vidal will add less than one percent to area employment figures, if that.  Further, many recreation-based jobs could be lost.

• Most of these jobs will not be available to local residents due to the specialized workers upon which the oil and gas industry typically relies.

• Any revenues generated to local governments will be offset by the burden that the oil and gas industry brings to county roads, fire and other emergency responders, and other services.

• Past job losses in Colfax County resulting from the end of mineral extraction activities do not correlate with declines in employment in other sectors of Colfax County’s economy.

Area Chamber of Commerce organizations and public officials from both Colfax and Taos areas agree that the report’s finding reflect critical community realities.  Tracy Boyce, former president of Cimarron Chamber of Commerce and local business owner, says “ The Valle Vidal brings millions every year into our economies.  That money is coming from wildlife watching, hunting, fishing, horseback riding and camping.  All of these people spend money on the way to and from the Valle Vidal.  We can’t afford to lose that.”

Don Francisco Trujillo II, Taos County Commissioner and Chairman of the Intergovernmental Council of the Enchanted Circle in northern New Mexico, says that Taos does not have anything to gain and has everything to lose from the drilling.  "I come from a long standing, time honored family whose love for the land runs deep in our roots and flows through our veins.  Our protected public lands are our lifeline to a sustainable future.  More and more we are seeing that communities that protect their public lands are benefiting economically."

The Coalition for the Valle Vidal and others are increasingly insisting that these types of debates are not stark, limited choices between jobs and the environment.  Referring to a recent comprehensive study by the nonprofit Sonoran Institute, Jim O’Donnell says, “You destroy the environment you lose your jobs.  Period.  Sound economic studies of rural western communities are showing time and again that protecting public lands create thriving and sustainable rural communities.  Today’s findings show that the same is true for Colfax and Taos counties.”

The report was submitted today to the Carson National Forest along with management comments and aspirations by the Coalition for the Valle Vidal. 

The report, summary and related materials are available at:
www.vallevidal.org/about.html.

Coalition for the Valle Vidal
P.O. Box 238    
Taos, New Mexico 87571
505.758.3874 phone | 505.758.7345 fax

(Editor's Note: Here's a map of the Valle Vidal that demonstrates the negative effects of drilling on the pristine area.)

Contact Legislators to Oppose DOMA

From Equality New Mexico:
Please Read, Act, and Forward

Take action now and oppose "Defense of Marriage" legislation in New Mexico! You can oppose these bills here:

House Bill 445 and Senate Bill 597 are marriage discrimination bills and your quick action today will help EQNM stop them in committee.

Use EQNM's new web resource to tell your legislators that neither bill does anything to "protect" marriage: instead, both bills blatantly discriminate against same-sex couples.

Don't know who your legislators are? No problem. The website will identify them for you and make it easy for you to email and fax them a letter.

Please Don't wait to defeat this legislation! If you act now your letter in opposition to DOMA may be the first one that reaches your legislator. These early letters and stories can help shape the way that legislators think about DOMA.

Spread the word. Please forward this message to friends, family,and colleagues. It is especially important that legislators from more conservative New Mexico counties hear from their constituents. So, please forward this email to all corners of the state.

Tell your state legislators that DOMAs discriminate! Both bills target same-sex couples and their children for discrimination. These bills are more than unfair; they are nasty and mean-spirited. Your action against this hurtful legislation is the key to defeating it. Thank you.

(Editor's Note: You can read more about these bills in an earlier post on the DFNM blog.)

4,500 Roses for Boxer (and Vets)

Bloggers from Daily Kos and elsewhere got together and donated to purchase 4,500 roses for Senator Barbara Boxer to thank her for her strong leadership and courage in challenging the election results and the nominations of Condoleezza Rice and Alberto Gonzales.

Quite a Valentine's Day image, isn't it? Boxer then sent the roses to veterans at Bethesda Naval Hospital and Walter Reed Army Medical Center so that they could share in the Valentine's Day cheer.

Read Senator Boxer's thank you post on Daily Kos.