Democracy for New Mexico

Tonight: Bernaillo County Dem Party Ward/Precinct Elections

It's one thing to criticize the Democratic Party or its candidates. It's another to become the Democratic Party -- or at least to become active in its workings. If you want to have a say about the Party platform and the candidates who will be on the Party's ballot for the June 3rd primary election, now's the time to get yourself elected as a delegate (or alternate).

Any registered Democrat can run for one of the state pre-primary convention delegate slots, which are allocated to each precinct and ward based on voting patterns in the 2004 presidential election and the 2006 gubernatorial election. To run, you need to attend the appropriate ward/precinct election to be held TONIGHT, Thursday, February 7, 2008, at 6:30 PM, at a variety of locations around Bernalillo County. To have a better chance to be elected, bring along some of your neighbors to support you.

If you live in a county other than Bernalillo, please contact your Dem County Party for information about your county's delegate election and county level pre-primary convention. Contact info for all County Parties can be found here

To determine your precinct and ward in Bernalillo County and where to go tonight:

• If you don't know the ward, but know the precinct number, .
• If you need to look up a precinct by putting in the address, .
• See the list below to find your ward/precinct election location

Folks who were elected to be members of the Party's State Central Committee last year are automatic delegates to the pre-primary convention, as are current ward chairs. Only the ward chair delegate will be counted as one of the allocated delegates in each ward.

All delegates will then attend the Bernalillo County Pre-Primary Convention, where delegates are confirmed, and then attend the State Pre-Primary Convention as delegates. The total number of delegates to be elected at the county level statewide this year will be 1,511 (including ward chair delegates). Added to this number are State Central Committee members who are “automatic” delegates, resulting in a total delegate count of 1,919 for the 2008 State Pre-Primary Convention.

Voting at the State Pre-Primary Convention will determine which candidates will appear on the Democratic primary ballot, and the order in which their names will appear on the ballot. Unless the law is changed at this year's Legislative Session, candidates much receive at least 20% of delegate votes in their category to get on the Dem primary ballot. State delegates will also get to vote on the State Party Platform and other business.

All registered Democrats are urged to attend:

BERNALILLO COUNTY WARD ELECTIONS, THURSDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2008, 6:30 PM. Various precinct locations. Election of delegates and alternates to the Bernalillo County Pre-Primary Convention. Click for the official meeting call and (PDF).

Note: If you're a fan of Martin Heinrich for Congress, you should know you can head over to his website where he has all the info you need to make it easy to attend your ward election tonight, including links to maps.

(Updated) NM Dem Prez Caucus: My View on the Blame Game

Update: I've been informed that Sen. Jeff Bingaman did indeed donate significant funds for the Caucus and also did outreach to get other constituencies to do the same when he was asked to help.
**********
This post is very long but I hope you'll hang in there with me. First, go read Heath Haussamen's update about the problems associated with New Mexico's February 5th Democratic Presidential Preference Caucus. Democratic Party of New Mexico Chairman Brian Colón explains what happened with the three Rio Arriba ballot boxes and asserts that the results on the top two candidates were called in to the Party in Albuquerque before the boxes left the caucus sites. Colón then takes responsibility for problems associated with handling the massive turnout on Caucus day:

Pointing out that turnout on Tuesday was much greater than the 105,000 who showed up in 2004, Colón said the story could have been about how the two Democratic presidential candidates inspired New Mexico Democrats to vote.

“What we can write about is how two candidates came and lit the state on fire in less than 10 days, and that’s amazing,” he said. “I regret that I allowed this other situation and the party’s organization to become the story instead of that.”

Colón has taken responsibility for the problems and apologized in other statements to local media as well. Why? Because he's an incredibly hard-working, sincerely caring, principled individual who doesn't have a habit of creating convenient scapegoats. Don't take my word for it -- ask other people like me who work within the Party structure. I'm a precinct chair and a member of the State Central Committee and I've seen the Party improve in leaps and bounds under his leadership. It's been like night and day.

New Energy in the Dem Party
In my view, Colón as Chair has been a huge breath of fresh air within a Party that was sluggish, lazy, anti-outreach, anti-transparency and downright nasty at times to rank and file Dems when John Wertheim was in charge before Colon. Wertheim was the kind of Party Chair who seemed to resent an influx of new faces into the Party as volunteers, ward and precinct chairs and elected members of the SCC. (Google his name within this blog to read about some of the epic battles activists had with Mr. Wertheim.) Colón has been just the opposite in my experience. Has he made mistakes dealing with an often raucous Party with a variety of factions and complex political alliances? Sure. But I think the Party has been operating incredibly well compared to how it functioned previously under Wertheim. It's a tough and time-consuming job for anyone.

How We Got Here
Certainly Colón and others were caught flat-footed when turnout surged on Caucus day. Although there was excitement about the presidential primary in other states where early contests were held, there wasn't much here until we got barnstormed in the week or so before our Caucus. Before that, with Richardson in the race and no interest at all in our Caucus from the other candidates, it was assumed there'd be no real contest here. After all, Bill Richardson insisted until the day he dropped out of the race that he was in it until Super Tuesday. Many of us believed him and figured the turnout would be rather light and made up mostly of those loyal to Richardson in the state.

By the time momentum picked up in the race, which really happened when Obama started being perceived as a serious challenger to Clinton, it was very late in the game for our caucus process.

The Role of Richardson and Other Dem Powerhouses
Even though Colón appears to me to be falling on his sword for Richardson, I want to point out that there are many within the Dem Party who should be held accountable in my view -- including Richardson himself. I'm especially appalled at what I consider to be a pompous, selfish, spin-loaded statement by the Governor about the situation, one obviously designed to protect his "national standing" and transfer the blame to someone else.

Everyone knows the early, Party-run and paid-for Caucus was Richardson's baby and part of his presidential run strategy. He "urged" the SCC to approve his plan to institute the Caucus and was heavily involved in the 2004 version. Contrary to what he says in his statement, that year's Caucus also had its serious problems, but the positive spin applied by his forces that year was strong enough to head off most negative media attention.

In addition, the '04 Caucus was clearly better funded by Party bigwigs and benefited from an influx of volunteers and other help steered to the process by the campaigns of Dem prez nominees like Howard Dean, as well as interest generated by a presidential primary debate held at UNM. Richardson's wide-reaching political network was also central to the process. That help wasn't there this time. That kind of money and attention from the top echelons of Dem power in the state wasn't there this time either.

Yes, I think Richardson should own up to his share of the responsibility for the kinds of problems that arose with the Caucus this year. Busy with his presidential run and sucking up virtually every spare dollar in the state to fund his presidential campaign, Richardson obviously paid little attention to the 2008 Caucus or helping to make it a success. It was left almost entirely in the lap of Colón, other already hard-pressed State and County Party officers, the tiny State Party staff and hundreds and hundreds of volunteers around the state -- all of whom worked like dogs under very trying circumstances to run what amounts to a state election on a shoestring and a song.

This is a poor and sparsely populated state. We don't have thousands of big donors and experienced political operatives to help make something like this work like a charm. Our Party doesn't possess state of the art technology or highly skilled people paid to design and run its systems. Yet what happened here is being compared by many -- like the Albuquerque Journal's political reporters -- to state primaries that are run by state governments and caucuses in states where the Dem Party is flush with cash, much of it generated by the presidential campaigns.

Richardson, however, isn't the only one I think needs to step up and be accountable. Lt. Gov. Diane Denish has built up a personal warchest of more than a million dollars for a gubernatorial campaign that won't happen until 2010. Where was she in this process? Her email list must be in the thousands and her political network is large. Did she strongly urge her supporters to volunteer to help put the Caucus together and staff the Caucus sites? Not to my knowledge.

Where was Albuquerque Mayor Marty Chavez? I notice he was quoted in the paper today badmouthing the Caucus, but I don't believe he or his minions lifted one finger to try and ensure its success. How about Sen. Jeff Bingaman and Rep. Tom Udall? Were their people out there urging supporters to help and donate for the Caucus? If so, I didn't notice.

I could go on.

Party Bigwigs vs. Party Grunts
The lack of interest and participation in the Caucus by most of the powerful officeholders, poobahs and big donors within the Dem Party has been palpable in my view, as it generally is in terms of anything to do with the grunt work of the Party. These faces are almost never seen at Party events or business-related meetings, or when work is to be done to make Party efforts a success. About the only time we see them is when they are running for office and seeking volunteers, donations and petition signatures. Or when they want to make a speech and get a big round of applause at big Party gatherings. Then they do their star power thing and leave before the, you know, boring business of operating a political party begins.

I want every bigshot in the Party -- including the Governor -- to publicly apologize for not doing more for this Caucus or anything else to do with operation of the Party. I want them all to apologize to the incredibly hardworking volunteers, county chairs and others who donated innumerable hours to this process under very trying circumstances -- and who pulled it off admirably in most locations despite the massive turnout and lack of support. I want them all to apologize to the 150,000 or more Democrats who turned out to vote on Tuesday and stayed the course to do so despite the lines, the weather and the chaos in some places. I want them all to apologize to the Dems who showed up to vote but never got the chance because of problems in the setup.

Ordinary Democrats are doing just fine. Grassroots and netroots interest and participation in Dem politics is exploding. More people are taking the time to be better informed than ever before. More people are donating time and money. More and more citizens are engaged and responding to the myriad of emergencies we face in our nation with passion. Many have even decided to run for office. The problems, in my view, originate in the business-as-usual, insider segments of the Party -- with the public officeholders and candidates and power brokers who believe they're rock stars and VIPs too high and mighty to get their hands dirty with mere Party matters. Too many concentrate solely on their own political expediencies, their own campaign fundraising and big donor asskissing, their own narrow interest in making personal political gains. Too many could care less about building the Party or serving the real interests of the people. They're much too involved with their own private empires.

Bottom line: I believe the problems with the New Mexico Dem Caucus reveal more about the disdain for the Party evident in its upper echelons, candidates and people who hold higher offices than they do about the failures of those forced to actually put it together and run it. We're tired of the massive egos and private agendas of too many of our candidates and those who are supposed to be representing the people.

This situation is just another example of the disconnect between those who inhabit Governor's mansions, statehouses, the halls of Congress, and other niches of privilege and the ordinary people who are the real backbone of the the Party and the nation. We're tired of doing all your dirty work for you and having you show up only to get your egos stroked or to blame all the wrong people for your own failures. Ask any ordinary Dem.

Also check out recent coverage on the Caucus at New Mexico FBIHOP, which includes many first-hand accounts of what went on at the Caucus sites, as well as m-pyre. Previous DFNM posts on this are available here and here and here.

Gov. Richardson Releases Statement on NM Dem Prez Caucus

In response to various problems being reported about yesterday's New Mexico Democratic Presidential Preference Caucus, Gov. Bill Richardson released the following statement today:

SANTA FE, NM- New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson today issued the following statement regarding the state's Democratic Presidential caucus.

"I am proud that so many New Mexico Democrats turned out to vote in yesterday's caucus.  The unprecedented interest and activism in the primary process shows that New Mexicans take seriously their important role in choosing the next President.  Make no mistake, New Mexico's 26 delegates matter greatly."

"That said, I am deeply disturbed by the reports that problems and delays at polling locations may have kept people from voting.  As this very close election shows every vote is important, and every vote must count.  Anything less is unacceptable.  In addition the delay in results was extremely disappointing. I have expressed my frustration to Democratic Party Chairman Brian Colon and I told him that I stand ready to help the party in any way that I can."

"At the same time, I believe that New Mexico voters- Democrats and Republicans alike- must decide whether they want to preserve their early voice in the process in the future, and what form it should take.  Whatever the decision, we must pledge to voters that future caucuses and primaries are professionally run, inclusive, and provide accurate, timely results."

The Caucus was conceived by the Governor in 2003 to give New Mexico voters a real voice in the selection of the party nominees--as the state primary elections are in June--long after nominees traditionally have been chosen.  It has been wildly successful as over 100,000 Democrats turned out in the first caucus and 150,000 turned out yesterday.  New Mexico Democrats- and Republicans if they choose- now have a real voice in the nomination process.

This is a Democratic Party process--not done at taxpayer expense--run by volunteers and funded by the Democratic Party and its supporters.  Democratic voters must recognize that with their new privilege of voting early comes responsibility.  If they want a voice in the process-they need to support the Caucus with their time and financial contributions.

In 2004 Governor Richardson--through his personal efforts and those of his organization--ensured a successful first caucus--well organized, well funded, well-executed.  This year, his political organization was devoted to his Presidential run and his personal time is now devoted to the Legislature.  The New Mexico Democratic Party and New Mexico Democrats were wholly responsible for this caucus in the absence of the Governor's time and his organization.  Despite their best efforts, the enormous turnout overwhelmed Party officials in some places.

(Updated) NM Dem Caucus: This Reeks

Update 2: Please also read my later post on this issue. Turns out the the results on the top two candidates were called in from Rio Arriba County to the Party in Albuquerque before the boxes left the caucus sites, with watchers from both the Clinton and Obama campaigns standing right there. End of story.

Update 1: Kate Nash reports that as of about 5:00 PM, counting of about 16,000 provisional ballots hadn't yet begun because representatives from all sides are negotiating the ground rules. The process is ongoing at the REDW firm in Albuquerque. Also, Gov. Richardson released a statement about the Caucus and the problems surrounding it.
************
Some serious attention is being given today to the whys and hows related to Rio Arriba County Dems holding three Caucus ballot boxes overnight at their homes. The officials reportedly failed to count the votes and phone the results into the State Dem Party after voting ended last night, as required. The votes held back may equal half of the votes cast in the county.

More than a day after New Mexico Caucus voting began, a believable, factual account of what happened has still not been released or confirmed. Heath Haussamen is following up on the story today. Go read it and weep. Excerpt:

The New Mexico Democratic Party caucus may be tainted by three ballot boxes that spent the night in the home of the Rio Arriba County party chair or the homes of other local election officials instead of being reported to the state party.

Those ballots still haven’t been counted, but they have been retrieved by the state party.

Several sources told me the ballot boxes spent the night at the home of Rio Arriba County Party Chair Theresa Martinez, whose state-lawmaker husband, Sen. Richard Martinez, endorsed Hillary Clinton. But Richard Martinez told Santa Fe New Mexican reporter Kate Nash that the boxes actually spent the night in the homes of three polling-place managers. He gave Nash no explanation for why the results from those ballots weren’t reported to the state party last night and why they were instead kept overnight in officials’ homes.

... The ballot boxes were retrieved from Theresa Martinez by the state party this morning.

I agree with Heath's assessment that "The state party needs to quickly resolve this and tell the public how it’s going to allay fears that the election process is tainted beyond repair." Of course there could be innocent explanations for this stuff, but it gets harder to believe as more time passes.

Results from an additional ballot box from Sandoval County still haven't been released either. The Rio Arriba and Sandoval County ballots represent the 2% of the state's Caucus vote that is still unreported. Meanwhile, only about 200 votes separate Obama and Clinton, and the Party is reportedly in the process of validating and counting almost 16,000 provisional ballots. It may be a long time before complete, official Caucus results will be released. Given all the confusion and rule breaking, I expect some legal challenges will be made by one or both of the candidates.

The Rio Arriba County situation can only serve to raise additional questions about who made the decision to have only one Caucus site in Rio Rancho, New Mexico's third largest city with a 2006 population of 72,000 -- and why they did so. Barack Obama was expected to do well in Rio Rancho, where many young, independent voters reside. And where is Gov. Richardson in all this? The Party Caucus was his idea from the start.

Guest Blog: Brian Colón on NM Presidential Preference Caucus

This is a guest blog by Brian S. Colón, who chairs the Democratic Party of New Mexico. If you have a few hours to spare, please consider volunteering to help with the Caucus.

Dear New Mexico Democrats,
The New Mexico Presidential Preference Caucus is just days away! With 184 voting locations around New Mexico, we have a tremendous amount of work ahead of us. The Democratic Party of New Mexico needs your help! If you are interested in volunteering over the next few days to make this event as successful as possible, please contact us at 505-830-3650 to volunteer.

Next Tuesday, February 5th, New Mexico Democrats will have an opportunity to choose a nominee for President and take the first affirmative step this year towards ending eight years of a Republican White House. 

I encourage you to help with New Mexico’s turnout and vote at a Caucus Site on February 5th. Voting will be held between Noon and 7 PM. Remember that although this is called a “Caucus” this is actually just like a regular election in which you will cast a secret ballot vote for the Democratic nominee for president.

To find your caucus voting site, visit our website at www.nmdemocrats.org and click on Feb 5th Caucus Voting Sites. The list is organized by County and you will need to know your registered precinct. If you need to find out the voting precinct where you are registered, you can locate this on your voter card or you can call our Albuquerque Headquarters at (505) 830-3650.

Again, DPNM will need many volunteers to help with counting absentee ballots, receiving results from around the State on Caucus Day, answering phones, and preparing materials for Caucus Day. Please volunteer a few hours of your time to change New Mexico and our country for decades to come!

Best regards,
Brian S. Colón
Chairman, Democratic Party of New Mexico

This is a guest blog by Brian S. Colón, who chairs the Democratic Party of New Mexico. If you'd like to submit a post for consideration as a guest blog, contact me by clicking on the Email Me link on the upper left-hand corner of the page.

Obama, Heinrich, Wivottt Winners of Sandoval County Dem Straw Poll

The Sandoval County Democratic Club and the Sandoval County Democratic Women's Club co-hosted a Straw Poll at a gathering last night in Rio Rancho. About 150 people attended.

In the presidential nomination poll, Javier Gonzales, the Chairman of New Mexico Highlands University's Board of Regents, spoke in support of Illinois Sen. Barack Obama. Former State Democratic Party Chairman John Wertheim spoke on behalf of New York Sen. Hillary Clinton. Obama beat Clinton by a 50-41 margin, while John Edwards finished third with 28 votes.

Martin Heinrich won the Straw Poll for NM-01 Congressional candidates with 83% of the vote. Michelle Lujan Grisham was second with five votes. In the NM-03 Congressional candidate poll, Don Wiviott won by a margin of 51-34 with Ben R. Lujan coming in second. The Wiviott campaign issued this statement about their win:

“I’m encouraged by the support I received in Sandoval County, one of the largest counties in the district. It is clear that Democrats are ready for a change from the “business as usual” politics of Washington,” Wiviott said. “I’ve spent my life promoting responsible clean energy solutions and creating jobs. I will fight for communities in northern New Mexico—both urban and rural—creating a place where our families can succeed and our children can get a great education, good paying jobs, and raise their families.”

Over the last two decades, Wiviott has built a successful New Mexico-based business and established himself as one of the nation’s leading “green builders.” His projects in Santa Fe, like the Lofts, have helped create jobs, grow the economy and protect New Mexico’s precious natural resources. 

The Third Congressional District contains all of San Juan, Mora, Colfax, Union, Harding, Curry, Roosevelt, Los Alamos, Taos, Rio Arriba, San Miguel, Quay, and most of Santa Fe, Sandoval, and McKinley counties. 

If you're a bit confused about who's running for our three open Congressional seats and one open U.S. Senate seat, check out New Mexico FBIHOP's easy .

Last Day to Mail Absentee Ballots for 2008 NM Prez Caucus

If you requested and received an absentee (mail-in) ballot for the February 5, 2008 NM Presidential Preference Caucus, today is the deadline for mailing your completed ballot to the Democratic Party of New Mexico (DPNM). Completed absentee ballots must be returned by mail and postmarked by midnight tonight, January 28th, 2008 in order to be counted.

If you don't mail in your absentee ballot for some reason, you can still vote in person at a Caucus site on February 5th according to this FAQ posted on the DPNM website:

If I request a ballot and don't return it, can I still vote at the Caucus site?

Yes. Only voters who request a vote-by-mail ballot and return it to the Democratic Party of New Mexico will be ineligible to vote again at a Caucus site. A voter's vote-by-mail ballot is not cast until it is received by the Democratic Party of New Mexico. If a voter requests a vote-by-mail ballot, but does not return it, she/he will still be able to cast a ballot in person on Caucus Day. However, vote-by-mail ballots post-marked by January 28th but received after Caucus Day will be checked against the records of people who voted on Caucus Day to ensure that only one vote is counted per voter.

If you have questions, contact the DPNM at 505-830-3650; 1-800-624-2457 (toll-free); 505-830-3645 (fax) or email info@nmdemocrats.org.

Today: South Carolina Dem Primary (With Updates)

UPDATE 6:49 PM: Has been projected the winner by MSNBC and CNN:

	Obama	218,963	54%	7	81% reporting
	Clinton	109,577	27%	1
	Edwards	75,453	19%	0
	Kucinich	443	0%	0

**********
UPDATE 5:24: CNN projects Obama will win based on exit polling.
**********

The first Democratic presidential primary in the South is being conducted today from 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM EST in South Carolina. The results will begin to roll in at 5:00 PM MST right here at the SC Dem Party website, when the polls close. Cable outlets CNN and MSNBC will also be posting results online, and will begin TV coverage at 6:00 PM MST. Brave New Films will have live, online coverage.

At stake are 54 pledged delegates, out of 2025 total delegates needed to win the nomination. Unlike most Repub primary contests, Dem primaries and caucuses produce proportional allocation of delegates rather than winner take all. If you get a third of the vote, you get a third of the delegates, and the delegates are allocated by congressional district. On Super Tuesday, delegates will be up for grabs in 16 Dem primary states, including New Mexico, including 183 separate congressional districts. The way in which the delegates are allocated means it's important to win votes in every district, not just in major urban centers with large populations.

Battle for Delegates
Even if one of the Dem contenders happened, by some miracle, to win every single February 5th Super Tuesday contest, that candidate would still not have enough pledged delegates to the DNC Convention in August in Denver to be declared a winner. This is gonna be a long slog. If the delegate race stays close, the power of the so-called Superdelegates grows. Superdelegates are automatic delegates to the national convention, and consist of Dem elected officials and other party powerhouses like former presidential candidates. The may support any candidate they fancy. In a tight race, they may well make the difference in putting a candidate over the top.

Candidate endorsements from big-name Democrats often don't mean much in terms of primary votes. In a normal year, when the nominee becomes apparent early, the Superdelegates usually throw their votes to the winner at the convention, even if they had previously supported someone else. This year, however, they may have a chance to make or break a nominee at the convention.

At the moment, the pledged delegate count among the top three is Obama 38, Clinton 36, Edwards 18. If you count Michigan's delegates, which the DNC has ruled will not be counted because the state ignored party rules to move their primary up before Nevada, Hillary has 109. A total of 55 unpledged delegates have been elected so far, mostly the remnants from precincts in caucus states where candidates didn't achieve the "viable" percentage of votes -- usually 15 % -- and those voters didn't choose to switch to a candidate who had achieved viability.

Michigan and Florida
Until recently, Clinton was perfectly fine with the DNC's decision not to recognize primaries in Michigan and Florida because they broke party rules to move their elections into earlier than allowed time slots. Now that the race is coming down to a fight for delegates rather than a quick sprint to early victory, Clinton is whining publicly about the poor delegates in the two states who won't get seated at the national convention. Just so happens that Clinton was the only Dem who's name appeared officially on the Michigan ballot, and she's ahead in Florida, where none of the Dems has campaigned.

Now that there's a long battle brewing over delegates, Clinton has her surrogates out there bashing Chairman Howard Dean and the DNC for having the nerve to follow the rules and put some teeth behind them. Of course the Clinton bunch has always detested Dean for his emphasis on party building over wining and dining corporate hot shots, not to mention his willingness to criticize DLC Dems for their triangulating, spineless maneuvering to avoid taking a position that might draw criticism from Repubs.

The Dean attacks from the likes of Terry McAuliffe, Bruce Reed, Al From and others in the "centrist" Clintonista realm have been coming hot and heavy since 2003, and they continue today. The thought of this group being back in the limelight if Clinton wins is enough to make my hair stand up on end. How about you?

At any rate, if the race continues to be close in the delegate count, there may well be a floor fight in Denver over seating the delegations from Michigan and Florida -- delegates who might be able to put one of the contenders in the driver's seat, most likely Clinton. Should be a long, hot summer.

You can find our previous coverage of the 2008 presidential primaries in our archive.

NM Dem Presidential Preference Caucus: Only Chance to Vote for Dem Prez Nominees

I spoke this morning with Ana Canales, who chairs the Democratic Party of Bernalillo County. She expressed concern that some Democrats seem to have misconceptions about the NM Dem Party's February 5, 2008 Presidential Preference Caucus and our later state primary election on June 3, 2008.

February 5th Dem Caucus
Just to be clear, the only opportunity for registered Democrats to vote for their favorite Dem presidential nominee is at the February 5th Caucus. The Caucus will take place at 184 polling places around the state, and is organized and paid for by the Democratic Party of New Mexico.

You will need to know your precinct number in order to find your Caucus polling place. Type in your address to determine your precinct if you live in Bernalillo County. Statewide, you can check to see if you are registered to vote and find your precinct number by using the Secretary of State's Voter View tool. Your caucus polling place may or may not be the same as the one where you usually vote in regular elections. Check here to determine the location of your February 5th caucus polling place. This page has Caucus locations for all precincts in all New Mexico counties.

Polls will be open from Noon to 7:00 PM on February 5th. There will be no early in-person voting, and the deadline is past for requesting an absentee (mail-in) ballot. So is the deadline for registering as a Dem if you've been unregistered or registered as an independent or with a party other than the Democratic Party.

June 3rd Primary
There will be no presidential nominee choices on the June 3nd Dem primary ballot. Only state reps and senate (legislative) candidates and those competing for U.S. House and Senate slots will be running to be Dem nominees in the primary this year.

On the Republican side, they'll be choosing their nominees for president, as well as those competing to get on the Repub ticket in state races and U.S. House and Senate slots. Unlike the Democratic Party, Repubs in NM have not created an early caucus here for their presidential nomination race.

All clear now?

Patricia Madrid Elected as DNC Platform Co-Chair

Former NM Attorney General Patricia Madrid has been elected by Democratic National Committee leaders to serve as one of three national co-chairs of the national party's 186-member platform committee. The committee is charged with drafting and recommending the party's proposed platform. Madrid will share her duties with Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick and former president and chief executive of Discovery Communications, Judith McHale.

"I'm very honored. It's a very prestigious position, and an important one for the convention," said Madrid.

Madrid was nominated for the post by DNC Chair Howard Dean.

"For Gov. Dean, this nomination was very important, because this is a convention for the entire Rocky Mountain West," said Democratic National Convention Committee spokeswoman Natalie Wyeth. "In her role on the platform committee, (Madrid) will ensure issues important to the West are well-represented at the convention."

The committee's leaders will will travel around the country to get input from Democrats on what should be included in the 2008 party platform, which will be voted on at the Dem convention that takes place August 25-28 this year in Denver. Madrid said she will ask her co-chairs to include a stop in New Mexico to gather recommendations. "If I have any say about it, the answer will be yes," she said.