Care About Fair and Accurate Elections?

If so, you should definitely give a listen to an interview with Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver conducted by Peter St. Cyr. It's posted on his blog, "What's the Word?" Peter is a well-known reporter with KKOB News Radio. His blog permits him to share interviews and other stories in their entirety, expanding on the short sound-bites that are typically aired on the radio.

As I'm sure most of you know, Maggie is running to retain her office after initially being appointed County Clerk in 2007 to replace Mary Herrera, who was elected Secretary of State. She's earned significant and widespread praise for the innovations and organizational prowess she's displayed since taking on the wide-ranging responsibilities of County Clerk in New Mexico's largest county.

St. Cyr's interview with Toulouse Oliver covers a lot of ground, from her experience with a recent audit of the county's electronic tabulator accuracy funded by the Pew Center to what she's doing to make sure the November 4th election runs just right. One of her top priorities is to ensure that an adequate supply of poll workers is well-trained and available to handle the massive turnout expected on election day this Fall:

“I’m going to be out this summer visiting neighborhood associations, and civic organization meetings, all over the place trying to recruit poll workers,” said Toulouse-Oliver. “I’m also meeting with a variety of stakeholder groups to ensure they are getting their people and parties, union organization and other activist groups who care about elections and the outcomes of elections.”

Toulouse-Oliver says if you don’t mind working a long shift you should consider volunteering. Election poll workers are compensated for their time, but need to be patient working with the public. More information about being a poll worker is posted on the Bernalillo County Clerk's website here.

We need to pitch in if we want the incredibly important election this year to run smoothly, with results we can count on. Maggie and her excellent staff are doing all they can to make that happen, but they need our help. Just do it.

Maggie also needs our help to retain her office. She'll face Republican Richard Lloyd Abraham on November 4th. You can sign up volunteer and/or donate at her campaign website.

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