Democracy for New Mexico

Two More Dem Events This Week

From Terri Holland , Executive Director, Democratic Party of Bernalillo County:

Support Our Democratic Candidates at the Following Events:

Hosts:  Rebecca Vigil-Giron and Armando and Dora Gutierrez, Joe and Daisy Kupfer and Patricia L. Chavez and Ray and Deb Baray Invite You to Attend a

Wine Tasting Reception and Fundraiser
in HONOR of Governor Bill Richardson
on Tuesday, Sept. 19th
@ Casa Rodena Winery, from 7:00-9:00 PM!
733 Chavez Road, Los Ranchos de Albuquerque, NM
Turquoise Sponsors--$1,000.00
Silver Sponsors--$500.00
Individual Sponsors--$50.00

Personal and/or Business Checks Accepted and made payable to: "Richardson for Governor, Rita Jones, Treasurer." PLEASE RSVP: (505) 480-7164
******************************
Women Impacting Public Policy
Candidate Debate on Business Issues
Friday, September 22nd, 11:30 AM to 1:30 PM
Confirmed Candidates include:
For Lt Governor: Lt. Governor Diane Denish & NM Senator Sue Wilson Beffort
For Secretary of State: Mary Hererra & Vickie Perea

Location: Embassy Suites, 1000 Woodward Place, Albuquerque, NM
Registration is online at . 
Cost is $30/per person. Scroll down the page to the NM event.

Election Reform Groups Endorse Gonzales for NM Secretary of State

Stephanie Gonzales speaking at 5.4.06 DFA-DFNM Meetup

From Verified Voting NM and United Voters of NM:
A statewide coalition active in election reform announced its support today for Stephanie Gonzales in the Democratic primary race for Secretary of State. Verified Voting NM and United Voters of New Mexico joined in selecting Gonzales as their favored candidate, saying she has more ideas and positions than her rivals on how to improve the election process and make it transparent and accountable to the citizenry. The coalition also noted her strong management capabilities, as evidenced in her experience as former Secretary of State, Deputy Secretary of State, and as Director of the Rural Development Agency and later, the Child Support Enforcement Division.

“Ms. Gonzales has endorsed voting by hand-marked paper ballots counted by optical scanning machines as the most trustworthy electoral system currently available,” said Paul Stokes, UVNM coordinator. “She has also underscored the importance of conducting automatic audits of vote counting as an effective means of strengthening accuracy in election results. Both have been major objectives of United Voters of NM and Verified Voting NM during the past two legislative sessions.”   

Robert Stearns of VVNM noted that Gonzales has pledged to work with County Commissions to expedite the switchover from electronic voting machines that can’t be checked to the auditable and recountable  paper ballot system, as passed into law by the  2006 Legislature with Governor Richardson’s support.

Click for info on Verified Voting New Mexico and United Voters of New Mexico.

You can get more information on the Stephanie Gonzales campaign at her website. She lays our her 8 Point Plan for improving the Secretary of State's office here (pdf).

Editor's Note: Verified Voting NM and United Voters of NM are local grassroots activist groups that were heavily involved in interaction with New Mexico's election reform task force and lobbying for a variety of bills to make the election process more effective, efficient, transparent and accurate. They were instrumental in the drafting and successful passage of the legislation that mandated the use of a voter verifiable paper ballot system statewide. The bill was passed by the NM Legislature and signed by Governor Richardson earlier this year.

Welcome!

Welcome to the new website for Democracy for New Mexico!

DFNM shares the goals and values of Democracy for America, Howard Dean's national organization that developed out of Dean for America. State groups that share the vision of DFA are not legally affiliated with the national group. They are independent, grassroots organizations shaped by their members.

This site was designed to provide a clearinghouse for information, organizations, events, news and views of interest to DFNM members around the state and others interested in progressive, grassroots action. We believe it's important that those who share DFA's goals and vision have a central site that fosters communication and action throughout the state. As such, it's a first attempt by a rank website amateur (me) to get the ball rolling. Comments and suggestions are appreciated!

So far there are two groups in New Mexico that are involved with DFNM -- in Albuquerque and Santa Fe. As time goes on we expect that groups will form in other areas of the state, and we look forward to a growing DFNM membership and the development of powerful grassroots organizations locally and statewide.

DFA MeetUps are held the first Wednesday of the month and many DFNM members attend regularly. I'm the co-host of the DFA MeetUp held at Page One Bookstore in Albuquerque. To learn more or to get on the email list to be kept informed about DFA MeetUps, go to the link on the left-hand side of this site. Email me at the link on the right-hand side of this site to receive occasional information about the activities of DFNM and other progressive news.

Get involved, and encourage your friends to check us out as well. DFNM and this website are only as effective as we all make them!

Barbara Wold

July 15, 2004 at 01:53 PM in DFNM Organization | Permalink | Comments (12)