Democracy for New Mexico

Dem Women of Sandoval County to Meet 3/5/08

Wednesday, March 5, 7:00 PM, social time at 6:30. Democratic Women of Sandoval County will meet in the Town Council Chambers at the Town of Bernalillo City Hall, 829 Camino del Pueblo, Bernalillo. Invited speaker will be DA Lemuel Martinez. Questions will be taken from the audience following his talk. Light refreshments will be served. The public is encouraged to attend. Guests are welcome. For info call Janice Saxton at 867-1139 or email jnjsaxton@msn.com.

Saturday: Special Dem SCC Meeting on Platform and Resolutions

The Democratic Party of New Mexico will hold a special meeting of its State Central Committee (SCC) on Saturday, February 23, 2008 at Smith-Brasher Hall at Central New Mexico Community College to consider resolutions recommended by its Platform & Resolutions Committee. Registration begins at 9:30 AM and the meeting will be called to order promptly at 11:00 AM.

SCC members will vote on Resolutions adopted at the County-level and recommended by the State Platform & Resolutions Committee. Any Democrat interested in discussing proposed Resolutions that will inform the 2008 Democratic Platform should be in attendance. The 2008 Party Platform will be up for consideration at the March 15th Pre-Primary Convention, and discussion on resolutions is an important preliminary step in forming the Platform.

Click for more information. Click to download a copy of the resolutions to be acted upon Saturday.

Colón Names Geise Interim Executive Director for DPNM

The Dem prez caucus aftermath continues. I just received this release from the Democratic Party of New Mexico:

Democratic Party Chairman Brian Colón announced today that Laura E. Sanchez has resigned as Executive Director. Chairman Colón named Josh Geise as the Interim Executive Director.

“Laura did a tremendous job during my first year as Chairman as we embarked on an unprecedented listening tour around our State to reach out to Democrats in all corners of New Mexico,” Colón said.  “Laura’s work ethic and dedication to the Democratic Party have never wavered and I wish her the best of luck in the future.”

“As we move forward to November our singular focus is carrying New Mexico for our Democratic Presidential Nominee, electing Tom Udall to the US Senate and winning all three open congressional seats,” Colón said. “This is a historic year in New Mexico and I’m excited to have Josh leading our staff at the Party as we move forward to November.”

“I am excited to be returning to the Party in what is shaping up to be the most intense campaign cycle in New Mexico history,” Geise said. “We have a lot of long days and nights ahead of us and with the leadership of Chairman Colón, I am confident November 4th is going to be a very good night for New Mexico Democrats.

Geise most recently worked on Governor Richardson’s Presidential campaign as his Early States Political Director. Prior to that he served as the Coordinated Campaign Director for the Democratic Party of New Mexico in 2006.

(Updated) NM Dem Caucus: All Unofficial Results Except Provisionals

UPDATE 2/14/08: See the final numbers released by the Democratic Party of New Mexico, including all ballots including provisionals.
***********
Yesterday, the Chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico Brian S. Colón announced that the final totals for the regular and absentee ballots. See below the fold for the tallies.

“Today’s canvass results for regular and absentee ballots provide hard evidence that New Mexico Democrats are ready for change in the White House,” said Chairman Colón.  “From ending the war in Iraq to providing solutions on health care and education, these two candidates have energized Democrats in every part of our state.  With an official turnout of 54% more than the last caucus, the 2008 Democratic Caucus turnout was absolutely unprecedented.”

In this year’s Democratic Caucus, a total of 157,354 cast an absentee, regular or provisional ballot for a Democratic Presidential candidate. Whereas, according to final tallies from the Democratic Party approximately 102,100 Democrats voted in the 2004 Caucus.

“These canvass results also confirm the regular results from election night, and the quality of the work done by volunteers in the middle of an unprecedented turnout,” said Chairman Brian Colón.  “Each of these votes have been scanned into a computer, tabulated and where there was an undetermined vote, members of both campaigns and a caucus judge reviewed the result—and I appreciate their commitment to accuracy and fairness.”

The provisional ballots are still being qualified. Approximately 7,000 out of more than 17,200 provisional ballots have been qualified so far. Volunteers are conducting a second search of the voter file to assure every registered vote counts.

17,276 Provisional Ballots are currently in the process of being qualified and scanned. Counting of the provisional ballots is began today and is expected to be finished late today or sometime tomorrow.

Statewide
Democratic Party of NM Democratic Caucus Canvass Results
(Unofficial, Do NOT include provisional ballots)

Absentee Ballots
Barack Obama 1,593
John Edwards 646
Christopher Dodd 3
Dennis Kucinich 103
Bill Richardson 61
Joe Biden 7
Hillary Clinton 1,648
Write-In 3
Uncommitted 0
Undervote/Overvote 0
TOTAL 4,082

Regular Ballots
Barack Obama 65,417
John Edwards 1,424
Christopher Dodd 67
Dennis Kucinich 433
Bill Richardson 1,175
Joe Biden 105
Hillary Clinton 66,436
Write-In 184
Uncommitted 398
Undervote/Overvote 375
TOTAL 136,014

Regular and Absentee Ballots
Barack Obama 67,010
John Edwards 2,070
Christopher Dodd 70
Dennis Kucinich 536
Bill Richardson 1,236
Joe Biden 112
Hillary Clinton 68,084
Write-In 187
Uncommitted 398
Undervote/Overvote 375
TOTAL 140,078

Chaotic Dem Caucuses Were Held In ...

This is from today's Albuquerque Journal column by Jim Belshaw:

So, with confusion as our motif, we move on to the Democratic caucus. First, a few descriptive passages:"

• "Complete chaos."
• "The decision to have only one caucus site ... appears to have been a bad one."
• "Caucus leaders ... are allowing people to vote by blue slip."
• "Confusion reigns."

That was in Nebraska, not New Mexico. The quoted material comes from a newspaper reporter at the Omaha World-Herald.

Let's try another caucus.

• "We ran out of chairs."
• "We ran out of sign-in sheets."
• "We ran out of pens."
• "We ran out of tables."
• "We ran out of everything here except for people ... I had to climb up on the table and shout. I felt like I was under siege ..."

That's not New Mexico, either. It comes from a Democratic caucus worker in Washington state.

Then there was Maine. A reader of the Talking Points Memo blog checked in via iPhone at the beginning of the Democratic caucus:

"I am at the Portland caucus now and things here are very chaotic," he wrote. "The line stretched around the block 30 minutes before the doors opened and now encircles the entire block. There are far more people trying to get in than the high school can hold."

Something's going on out there, no?

Readers wrote in with thoughts on the New Mexico Democratic caucus, some with complaints, one with a bit of whimsy ("What if we called this caucus 'a practice session' and just put Clinton and Obama back on the regular primary ballot for June?").

One said the voting in Corrales was smooth and easy.

Another volunteered to work in the caucus. (Remember, the whole thing was done by volunteers in New Mexico.)

Find fault if you must, and even if the faults you find are on target, I think the Omaha World-Herald reporter was on to something when she wrote: "They (voters) say that despite the confusion and the traffic woes, most people were happy and in good spirits. They were just glad to be a part of something that was big."

That sounds right to me.

NM Caucus: 15,100 Provisional Ballots Checked

If you'd like to volunteer to help with provisional ballot qualifying at REDW in Albuquerque or donate some snacks or beverages for the volunteers, click for more info. They need all the help they can get to finalize the process before the Party's February 15th deadline for certification.

Yesterday afternoon, the Chairman of the Democratic Party of New Mexico Brian S. Colón announced that the Party made further progress with the qualification of provisional ballots. The qualification process works to assure that voters are registered and have not already cast a ballot.

“We’ve made significant progress qualifying provisional ballots,” said Chairman Colón. “Our volunteers have checked more than 15,100 provisional ballots and identified 5,466 registered Democrats—so far. At the same time, we are conducting a second search to a more extensive database to make sure that we count those provisional voters who are registered and have not already cast a ballot.”

Since the day after the caucus, over one hundred volunteers have donated over 281 shifts to help the process of verifying and counting the votes of the record Democratic turnout on February 5th.

“We remain committed to providing accurate results, as quickly as possible.” said Chairman Colón. “The outpouring of volunteer support has been critical to this effort.”

The Democratic Party of New Mexico and its volunteers will continue working approximately 16 hours per day until the election results are certified.

(3 Updates) Ethics: Aren't You Sick of the Unnamed Alligators?

"Birdies" told me so.

UPDATE 3: See my later post that follows up on this one and reports on the "campaign limits contest" proposed by some alligator.

UPDATE 2: Be sure to read this post at Clearly New Mexico for more detail on the handling of ethics and campaign finance reform bills at the NM Legislature this year. It tells it like it is. Quote:

The fact of the matter is that Common Cause, the League of Women Voters, AARP and numerous other organizations have been actively pushing Clean Elections, Contribution Limits and an independent Ethics Commission for three years.

... the real question we all should ask and keep asking: Why are some legislative leaders putting the deep freeze on ethics reform - and right before a big election no less?

UPDATE 1: If you want more commentary on the corrupting influence of money, insider cronies and powerful lobbyists at the Roundhouse, be sure to read this piece over at Duke City Fix, this post over at m-pyre and at NM FBIHOP. They're all cookin' with gas.
**********
Too cowardly to speak their piece in public, too many of the most status quo/reactionary legislators, hangers on and lobbyists for elite special interests are content to leak unsourced material by taking on the personnae of the much cited Alligators over at Joe Monahan's place. It's a convenient ploy that can be used to try and gain political advanatage -- whether or not such Alligators really exist in terms of a specific issue. Who's to say where the gossip and spin are really coming from and why? After all, I could put all kinds of statements onto DFNM and claim "birdies" told me so. Who's to argue? There's no proof one way or the other.

The lastest of these stealth attacks clearly aims to convince folks that ethics and campaign finance reforms don''t have a chance in the Legislature AGAIN this year. Even more egregious is the lame excuse being pushed that the ethics package won't pass -- and maybe even shouldn't pass -- because the reformers want too much reform. Ain't that a hoot? Yes, after all the horrendous corruption scandals here and just about everywhere else in the nation due to unrestrained corporate money flowing into the system and everyone looking the other way, we have some nerve demanding that a handful of reforms -- that are supported by the public by a 70-85% margin -- be enacted. If only we'd be more patient. Quote:

Back at the Roundhouse, as our Alligators predicted, major ethics legislation appears dead. Are the ethics lobbyists asking for too much at once? That's a complaint we're hearing. Critics say after years of failure, ethics advocates should push for one big ethics bill a year, not big ethics packages. They argue if you get one piece of the pie each year, after a couple of years you would have a whole pie. Perhaps the donors to Common Cause will think about that in light of yet another unsuccessful session.

No, actually I know that donors to Common Cause and others who have long been fighting to get recalcitrant politicos to face the music and play by some rules will hold LEGISLATORS responsible if this year's ethics package doesn't pass. I know, those who reap the benefits of unfettered campaign "contributions" and don't want anyone looking into ethics allegations with a law with teeth don't want anything passed at all. And if the citizenry gets too loud, they may surrender some tiny piece of turf but never all the pieces that would create a real wall against corruption. "Alligators" are like that.

Another Example of Insider Crapola
If you want more evidence that much of what Monahan and his "Alligators" say is mostly a bunch of hooie, coming directly from the perches of the elite, dig these paragraphs offering a cure for the kinds of caucus/primary problems that are being experienced all over the nation this year:

What the party really needs--to be crass about it--is rich people to serve as chair. Why? Because current Chair Brian Colon says the lack of money was the big reason why the party did not have more voting sites and materials for the election. The party held back spending on those items as well as consultants because he did not have the cash to pay for them.

The chief job of a party chairman is to raise money. Rich people are good at raising money from their rich friends. It's a formula that has been followed for years in both parties.

Yeah, Joe, that's why the nation and the planet are facing the kinds of emergencies on every level that are caused by arrogant hubris and unrestrained power in the hands of "rich people." Of course what Joe leaves out is the fact that much of the money in the state this year went to fund a Quixotic presidential campaign through New Hampshire. You know which one. And, in fact, I don't recall Colon saying anything to that effect anyway. Mostly, he's been taking all the blame for whatever problems happened because he evidently believes that when problems arise, the most important thing is to fix them, not look for scapegoats or seek ways to cover your own behind.

What credibility Monahan has in anything he might say about "what the Party needs" is beyond me, anyway. If you aren't active in the Party, Joe, we really don't care what you have to say about what we need. Frankly -- to be crass about it -- there's no chance in hell that your motives are pure and that you're just dying to give the Party the advice it needs to make it even stronger than it is now. Nobody is naive enough to believe that. And as to this gem:

Paying for a full-time chairman is unlikely to improve fund-raising performance. It is a fact that having a well-established politico with personal money will.

Maybe Joe should do some research before making sweeping generalizations like this. As a matter of fact, modernized, efficient and ethically-run political parties around the country do indeed have paid chairs and even paid fundraisers and other staff. Why? Because the corrosive influence of "rich families" has a tendency to be blunted when professionals take over from good 'ol boys (and sometimes even girls).

A parting thought. According to almost every single rank and file Dem in the Party I've ever talked to -- and contrary to your assertions -- John Wertheim was the one of the worst Party Chairs we've ever had, "wealthy family" or not. (If you're wondering why I'm bringing up Wertheim's name here, go read Monahan's post all the way to the end.)

Wertheim was a chair who wouldn't produce an adequate and transparent financial statement for the Party, refused to consider having the Party's books audited regularly and handed significant money over to at least one "consultant" without even bothering to produce a contract or scope of work to cover the transaction. He antagonized almost every segment of the Party except, of course, the one that appears to be represented in most of the holding forth in Monahan's post today -- monied interests with monied priorities who want to conduct business in secret and the public be damned.

Status of NM Dem Prez Caucus: Calling All Albuquerque Area Dems

Nancy Denker of Focus Ink and other vols processing provisionals

Volunteers are still needed from now until at least Tuesday to help count New Mexico Caucus provisional ballots. The task is taking place at the offices of REDW, located at 6401 Jefferson St. NE, Albuquerque, NM 87109 (map), (505) 998-3200. Please call Robert Adams at (505) 975-8780 if you'd like to volunteer for a shift. 

Netroots Challenge to Democrats: The dozens of volunteers, judges and staffers who are taking shifts -- sometimes very long ones -- processing and qualifying Caucus provisional ballots at REDW for 16 hours a day can get very hungry and thirsty. Can we help keep them hydrated and fed? Are you up to the challenge? Whether you can devote some time to the provisional ballot process or not, think about bringing over a donation of fruits, veggies, cheeses, crackers, juices, soft drinks, munchies, pizza, sandwiches or whatever strikes your fancy.

If you'd like, call Robert Adams at 975-8780 to see what's needed, or just stop by with the goods. You know what they always say about Democrats -- we may not always be superbly organized but we do have a tradition of supporting one another. (Hat tip to Anni Smith for the suggestion.)

Where Do We Stand in the Count?
Yesterday the Chairman of Democratic Party of New Mexico Brian Colón announced that the Party had initiated the qualification of provisional ballots. This is the process of assuring that voters are registered and have not already cast a ballot. Earlier Saturday, the Party completed the processing of the provisional ballots, and has already completed the canvass of regular and absentee ballots. 

"Saturday, with the work of scores of volunteers, we began qualifying provisional ballots to ensure that every vote counts," said Chairman Colón. "Voters waited for hours to send a message that's its time for a change in the White House, we must work for hours and days, to make sure their vote counts. Through this qualification process, we will assure that every registered voter's ballot will be counted."

With the help of several dozen volunteers working on several shifts covering 16 hours per day, the Democratic Party of New Mexico has completed the following phases within the vote-counting and certification process:

• Established an agreement with ground rules between the two parties;
• Completed the scanning of more than 137,000 voter signatures;
• Completed the counting of more than 141,000 regular and absentee votes; and
• Processed over 17,200 provisional ballots, which is the first step before qualifying and tabulating the provisional ballots.

"Some may criticize our agreement with the two campaigns for being too inclusive, but the rules of the caucus, and the Democratic Party of New Mexico are built on inclusion," said Colón. "We fundamentally believe that every registered vote should count. The Democratic Party and the two campaigns have an agreement based on inclusion."

The Democratic Party of New Mexico will continue working through the weekend approximately 16 hours per day until the election results are certified.

All photos taken at REDW on Saturday, February 9, 2008 by M.E. Broderick.

To read our previous coverage on Democratic presidential primaries and caucuses, visit our archive.

NM Dem Prez Caucus: What's Happening Now

Voters at Montezuma Elementary in Albuquerque

Volunteers are needed to help count provisional ballots at RDEW in Albuquerque. Click for more info.

Attorneys for the Clinton and Obama campaigns, State Democratic Party officials, various staffers, temporary workers and volunteers are continuing to labor at the accounting firm of RDEW in Albuquerque to produce a final, official tally of the votes cast in New Mexico's February 5th Democratic Presidential Preference Caucus.

Regular paper ballots had been handcounted at the Caucus sites after voting closed on Tuesday. The results were then phoned in to Dem Party headquarters that night, where the tallies were recorded. This constituted the "unofficial count." Next the ballots had to be run through optical scan tabulators, and the results compared with the handcount totals. The signatures of those who signed in to vote at the Caucus sites are being scanned into a computer to produce a master list showing who cast a ballot. There's also a listing of the folks who voted by absentee (mail-in) ballot.

Provisional Ballot Count
Workers are expected to begin sometime today to examine more than 17,276 provisional ballots. The special ballots were used by people who a) showed up to vote but weren't on the registered voter rolls, b) were at the wrong Caucus site or c) had requested an absentee (mail-in) ballot but failed to return it and voted in person instead. The latest update of New Mexico's vote count was released yesterday morning and does not contain any provisional ballots.

Standards for Qualifying Provisional Ballots
Campaign attorneys and Dem Party officials spent the past few days negotiating standards that will be used to judge whether a provisional ballot qualifies as legitimate or must be tossed out. The standards were designed to reject only those provisionals that are obviously illegitimate -- not those that may exhibit minor errors like a missing middle initial. The aim was to be inclusive, transparent, consistent and fair.

Provisional ballot analysis will determine whether the vote was made by a registered Democrat, and whether the individual had voted previously at another Caucus site or via absentee. The Party's registered Democrat voter list has reportedly been rechecked to make sure it contains the names of all the Dems on the Secretary of State's official list. According to Kate Nash, these are the main standards released by the State Party that will govern provisional ballot qualification:

1. The absence of either an inner or outer envelope is not dispositive as to the disqualification of a provisional ballot.

2. The absence of a signature on an affidavit is not dispositive as to the disqualification of a provisional ballot.

3. The absence of the use of the official DPNM affidavit is not dispositive as to the disqualification of a provisional ballot.

4. The absence of the use of the official DPNM provisional ballot is not dispositive as to the disqualification of a provisional ballot.

5. A discrepancy as to the correct congressional district is not dispositive as to the disqualification of a provisional ballot.

6. In accordance with the philosophy of inclusion, if a link can be made between the name of a voter and that voter's provisional ballot, that ballot will be qualified and counted in the tally unless:

a. It cannot be demonstrated within a reasonable degree of certainty that the provisional voter was registered and eligible to participate in the February 5, 2008 caucus;

b. It can be demonstrated within a reasonable degree of certainty that the provisional voter cast another ballot, whether absentee, emergency, regular, or other provisional ballot.

The Party's deadline for certifying the Caucus results is February 15th, and it may take that long to finish the provisional ballot qualification process.

Photo Credit: AP Photo/Jake Schoellkopf

(Updated) ACTION ALERT: Help Needed to Count Caucus Ballots

ATTENTION ALL
Volunteers needed to come to REDW
And help count provisional ballots.
6401 Jefferson St NE
Albuquerque, NM 87109
(505) 998-3200

Please call me at 975-8780 if you can help today, tomorrow or Saturday.
Today until 7pm
Tomorrow 7am - 7pm Friday  7am - 3pm , 7 - 10 pm
Saturday 7am - 7pm  Saturday 7am - 3pm, 7-10 pm
(hat tip to Mr. Terrell for updated times)

Thanks! Robert Adams