Democracy for New Mexico

Santa Fe & Bernalillo County Clerks to Buy Unreliable Touchscreen Voting Machines

According to an article in today's Albuquerque Journal (subscription required), more than half of the voting machines to be purchased in New Mexico to serve disabled and non-English voters will be the dreaded touchscreens that are at the heart of an ongoing voters' lawsuit in the state. This, despite the fact these Sequoia Edge machines are known to switch votes and have trouble handling Spanish language ballots.

The County Clerks of the state's biggest counties, Mary Herrerra of Bernalillo and Valerie Espinoza of Santa Fe, decided to go with the touchscreens, ignoring a strong citizen lobbying effort urging them to select AutoMark voting machines that provide paper ballots and were the preference of many disabled voters.

The good news is that 19 counties will be purchasing the recommended AutoMarks, including Catron, Curry, De Baca, Eddy, Grant, Guadalupe, Harding, Hidalgo, Lea, Los Alamos, Luna, Mora, Quay, Roosevelt, San Juan, San Miguel, Sierra, Taos, and Union.

The 14 counties selecting Sequoia AVC Edge touchscreens were: Bernalillo, Chaves, Cibola, Colfax, Dona Ana, Lincoln, McKinley, Otero, Rio Arriba, Sandoval, Santa Fe, Socorro, Torrance, and Valencia.

According to the Journal article,

Clerks in Bernalillo and Santa Fe counties especially contended with e-mails, phone calls and faxes leading up to Tuesday's deadline to select machines as activists sought to steer clerks toward what they said were more accurate machines.

But some clerks would not change their decision.

"It's absolutely disturbing," said Holly Jacobson of VoterAction, an activist group, of the majority of touchscreen machines being ordered. "They have a history of not counting Spanish language votes, of switching votes. The list goes on and on."

Also disappointing were Herrerra's and Espinoza's refusals to meet with concerned citizens to discuss the pros and cons of touchscreen machines. Espinoza cancelled a scheduled meeting with citizens at the last minute and Herrerra's office was locked when citizens paid a visit the day before the decision on purchasing the machines was due. I guess in this era, public officeholders are content to listen to campaign contributors and political insiders rather than "risk" a meeting with mere voters and members of the communities they allegedly serve. A sad situation, indeed, especially since both Herrerra and Espinoza are Democrats.

Update: Press Conference at Bernalillo County Clerk's Office

Editor's Note: This is a follow-up on our previous post about efforts to encourage County Clerks to purchase AutoMark voting machines instead of touch screen machines to serve disabled voters. If you attended last week's DFA-DFNM Albuquerque Meetup, you'll remember Letitia Montoya, a candidate for Secretary of state who showed up yesterday in support of Verified Voting NM's efforts.

From Paul Stokes of Verified Voting NM:
We had about 60 terrific people in Albuquerque yesterday at the press conference. KUNM, the Albuquerque Journal, and Alibi were there from the press, and Channel 7 interviewed us, but they were really there for the city council meeting. Several of us "regular rabble-rousers" spoke and Letitia Montoya, candidate for Secretary of State, gave a nice statement of support.

When we got to Mary Herrera's office, she was gone and the office was locked up, so we slid letters to her under the door. However, the Bureau of Elections was still open, and we assembled there. Jeff Carbajal told us that Mary Herrera would not make an announcement until tomorrow, and that they were still working hard considering candidate machines to buy. The discussion was amicable, but the outcome uncertain and -- well, we'll see.

Thanks to everyone who participated. Whether we win or lose this battle, with enthusiasm like yours, we will win the war.

Santa Fe County Clerk Refuses to Meet With Concerned Citizens

From VerifiedVotingNM and UnitedVotersNM:
Santa Fe County Clerk Valerie Espinoza today turned away a group of about 20 citizens who came to her office on a scheduled appointment to deliver a collective letter concerning voting machines for disabled voters. The meeting had been requested by VerifiedVotingNM.

Robert Stearns, steering committee member of VerifiedVotingNM, said, “We’re sorry that this has happened. We’re concerned citizens who simply wanted to meet with our County Clerk and deliver a letter outlining our views on voting systems for the disabled. She has until tomorrow to advise the Secretary of State on which machines she wants to buy with federal funding to serve handicapped voters.

“We wanted to urge her to choose the AutoMark ballot marking machine which uses hand-marked paper ballots that are counted on optical scanning machines. We believe this is the best system for auditing and recounting and thereby making sure that votes are counted as they are cast. We do not believe that the competing touchscreen machines are reliable.

“The AutoMark was the top choice of the disabled voters from the NM Commission for the Blind who tested the three machines that are eligible for purchase in our state, using Help America Vote Act funding. We understand that the Clerks of Dona Ana, Taos and San Miguel counties have selected the AutoMark for their disabled voters and other counties are seriously considering it. Such consideration is all we ask here in Santa Fe County.”

Sorry for the inconvenience to those who came out and were left in the cold. Excuse me if I did not get around to meeting you all personally. This can only strengthen our resolve to continue our effort to get all votes counted correctly in New Mexico. Best, Bob Stearns

VerifiedVotingNM and UnitedVotersNM represent a coalition of organizations and individuals concerned with strengthening accuracy in vote counting, auditing and recounting. For more information, contact them at 329 Sena Street, Santa Fe NM 87505, or call 988-3718

A Just Minimum Wage

A new report commissioned by the American Friends Service Committee and the National Council of Churches calls on Congress to raise the minimum wage. Click here to learn more and download a PDF copy of the report, "A Just Minimum Wage: Good for Workers, Business and Our Future," by Holly Sklar and the Rev. Dr. Paul H. Sherry.

The report emphasizes that "A job should keep you out of poverty, not keep you in it ... Raising the minimum wage is a moral imperative for the very soul of our nation."

As you probably know by now, a bill to raise the minimum wage in New Mexico from $5.15 to $7.50 an hour is expected to be introduced at the 30-day legislative session that begins on January 17, 2006. This report contains a multitude of excellent talking points that strongly support the economic wisdom and moral fairness of raising the minimum wage, whether it's at the local, state or national level.

At its recent State Central Committee meeting, the Democratic Party of New Mexico passed a resolution endorsing an increase in the state minimum wage to $7.50 per hour, indexed to inflation, with no preemptions of local wage ordinances.

Legislative supporters of a raise in New Mexico's minimum wage so far include Speaker of the House Ben Lujan, D-Santa Fe; Senators Ben Altamirano D-Catron, Grant and Soccorro; John Grubesic, D-Santa Fe; Nancy Rodriguez, D-Santa Fe; and Representatives Luciano "Lucky" Varela, D-Santa Fe; Antonio Lujan, D-Doña Ana; Joseph Cervantes, D-Doña Ana; Andy Nunez, D-Doña Ana; Rick Miera, D-Bernalillo; Joni Gutierrez, D-Doña Ana; Manny Herrera, D-Grant and Hidalgo; and Peter Wirth, D-Santa Fe.

More and more cities and states are raising their raising their minimum wage rates in response to the refusal of the Republican-dominated U.S. Congress to take up this vital issue. The national minimum wage was last increased in 1997.

The New Mexicans For A Fair Wage Coalition has been established to support a raise in our state's minimum wage. Its current membership includes:

ACORN
Albuquerque Musicians’ Association
American Federation of Teachers New Mexico
AFSCME
ARC of N.M.
Community Action N.M.
Democracy for New Mexico
Empowering Our Communities in New Mexico
Enlace Communitario
Green Party N.M.
Grey Panthers
Health Action N.M.
Hispano Roundtable of New Mexico
Hogares, Inc.
Homeless Advocacy Coalition
Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry
MANA
Mountain West Regional Council of Carpenters
National Education Association
N.M. AFL-CIO
N.M. Alliance for Retired Americans
N.M Catholic Conference
N.M. Building Construction and Trades Council
N.M. Center on Law and Poverty
N.M. Conference of Churches
N.M. Council on Crime and Delinquency
N.M. Federation of Labor Retiree Council
N.M. Human Needs Coordinating Council
N.M. Voices for Children
N.M. Pediatric Society
N.M. Public Health Association
Parents Reaching Out
Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office
Santa Fe Living Wage Network
Somos Un Pueblo Unido
Southwest Organizing Project
UNM Law and Society

Los Alamos Study Group to Launch New Disarmament Center

From the Los Alamos Study Group:
The Los Alamos Study Group is seeking volunteers for its NEW Los Alamos Disarmament Center in Los Alamos, opening December 10th. This is a bold action that will allow us to be a part of the Los Alamos Community and be a voice for those working for nuclear disarmament from a localized place. The Center will be a base for social action, studies of peace and justice issues, and spiritual formation. It will do this through a number of means:

• The Center will be an educational resource and “counter-museum,” attracting visitors interested in an alternative perspective to what the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) Bradbury Science Museum offers.
• It will bring attention to the large number of businesses and organizations that have endorsed the Call for Nuclear Disarmament.
• It will be a converging force to spread the Call for Nuclear Disarmament and to carry out other organizing initiatives.
• It will be a place for small discussion groups and meetings.
• It will offer a supportive base for LANL employees and others in the Los Alamos Community to oppose the design and manufacturing of nuclear weapons at the LANL.
• It will attract visiting scholars, interns, and other activists from afar to work with us.
• It will offer religious communities an arena to incorporate social action into their spiritual formation.

Join us in creating a Disarmament Center that will be a focal point for political, social justice, and spiritual action! Educational programs, organizations, and spiritual communities, and individuals are invited to create a formal program with us or make arrangements to volunteer at the Los Alamos Disarmament Center to stand up against militarism, nuclear weaponry and environmental hazards. This may be in the form of an internship, a spiritual social action program, or out of a social consciousness to work for non-violent change. We envision the Center to be a network of concerned citizens contributing to the common goal of nuclear disarmament.

Please email fportugal@lasg.org or call 505-265-1200 for more information.

SAGE Organizes March to Give Homage to the Petroglyphs

From Laurie Weahkee, Executive Director:
Stand With Us! As the City of Albuquerque commemorates its tricentennial, a celebration of our multicultural heritage, it simultaneously begins construction of the Paseo Del Norte road extension through the Petroglyph National Monument, a Native American sacred site.

SAGE Council asks your participation in a March to Give Homage to the Petroglyphs, to commemorate those who have fought this 10-year struggle and to acknowledge the difficult work of sacred sites protection here and elsewhere.

WHEN: Sunday, November 20th, 2005
TIME: 1:00 - 4:30 PM
WHERE: The March begins at Pueblo Montano Park at the entrance to the bosque open space, off Montano just east of Coors.

The March will culminate with a rally at the Petroglyphs with speakers, prayers and song. Transportation will be provided back to Pueblo Montano Park. Restroom services available. Please dress appropriately. Click for a map and more information. Invite your friends and family!

REMINDER: Rep. Bernie Sanders in ABQ Saturday

A Forum of Successful Progressive Candidates

Guest of Honor:
The Honorable Congressman Bernie Sanders, U.S. Representative, Vermont, Independent
and
NM House Rep. Mimi Stewart and Senator Cisco McSorley
Plumbers Hall, 510 San Pedro SE
Saturday, November 19, 1:00 - 4:30 PM

These energetic and successful progressive elected officials will share their stories of why they ran for office and how they won. Anyone interested in running for public office should attend! You will learn how to be elected even when you won’t or can’t generate huge corporate or special interest contributions. Win with vision and grassroots support while maintaining the moral high ground. 

Join us to learn VALUABLE lessons from these DYNAMIC elected activists. They chose to run because they had the dream and motivation to represent their community and a PASSION to contribute! Candidates, campaign workers, interested citizens, and PATRIOTS are invited! Free admission. Tables for organizations to distribute materials, enlist activists, educate and motivate are ONLY $15.

Community Partners: Central New Mexico Labor Council, Gray Panthers of Albuquerque, Plumbers & Pipefitters LU 412, Albuquerque Teachers Federation Union, World Voices Newspaper. Need more Info? Martha at 275-0597, Luis at 463-3774, or marthacd@earthlink.net 

PLUS:

Activists, Patriots and YOU Are Invited Meet US Congressman and Senate Candidate Bernie Sanders

Saturday, November 19, 2005, 6:30-9 PM
324 Richmond  SE (corner of Coal and Richmond)
Food and refreshments
It’s only $20 per person and $35 for couples (BYOB wine or beer)

Meet the longest serving Independent Representative in the House of Representatives! THE TRUE Representative of the People!

"A victory for Bernie Sanders is a win for Democrats, but he is not a Democrat “ – Howard Dean

Listen to Bernie take unscreened calls on Thom Hartmann’s radio show every Friday during the 10:00 hour. You are invited to call in. Simply click on “listen live” at www.thomHartmann.com (It’s the finest talk show on radio: 10:00 – 1:00 daily)

Bernie Sanders for the Senate: THE Independent Voice for People! RSVP to 505-275-0597 or marthacd@earthlink.net

NM Election Officials Try to Block Machine Inspections

Editor's Note: The Brad Blog, a national website, covered this story last week and includes a long comment thread debating the issues. Also, a recent article in Scoop Independent News provides a comprehensive look at the voting problems New Mexico experienced in the 2004 election. Perhaps most damning, a recent report from the highly respected, nonpartisan Government Accountability Office (GAO) confirms concerns about the security of electronic voting machines.

Voter Action New Mexico Update 11/08/05:
In the past week, two New Mexico election officials refused to allow the voter plaintiffs in the case of Patricia Rosas Lopategui v. Rebecca Vigil-Giron, et al. to conduct meaningful inspections of their electronic voting machines. This despite clear indications that there were serious problems in last year’s presidential election with these same machines, which do not produce a voter-verifiable and auditable paper record.

Bernalillo County Clerk Mary Herrera has given no explanation for her sudden, flat refusal to permit any inspection after weeks of discussions between plaintiffs’ attorneys and attorneys for the county.  Plaintiffs have sworn statements from Bernalillo County voters who tried to vote on the county’s paperless touchscreen voting machines, manufactured by Sequoia Voting Systems, and whose votes were switched before their eyes from the candidate they supported to a different candidate.  Plaintiffs also have evidence that the County’s widespread use of another type of paperless machine, the Shoup 1242, resulted in the erasure of votes that citizens tried to cast for presidential candidates.

San Juan County Clerk Fran Hanhardt permitted limited inspection of her county’s voting machines.  She would not, however, open the voting machines to permit plaintiffs’ experts to examine their components. The experts included Dr. David Dill, a computer science professor from Stanford University with extensive knowledge of electronic voting machine issues. The reason?  Doing so would void the County’s warranty from the manufacturer, Election Systems and Software (ES&S).

Ms. Hanhardt also refused to allow plaintiffs’ experts to examine or copy electronic files containing the results of the November 2004 presidential election that were stored in the machines’ “redundant memories.”  The reason?  The machines store the results of public elections in a secret, proprietary format that ES&S claims as its private property.  According to Ms. Hanhardt, allowing plaintiffs’ experts to see those results in their original form would violate the county’s contract with ES&S, which prohibits disclosure of proprietary information.

However, plaintiffs’ experts did cast votes in simulated voting on two touchscreen machines, and noted several anomalies.  Several times when they tried to vote for a candidate, the “X” appeared instead in the adjacent box for a different candidate.   Once when boxes for two candidates were pressed at the same time, neither registered a vote but an “X” appeared in the box of a third candidate between them.  In addition, the experts were able to cast ballots that contained no votes whatsoever, something the County Clerk and her staff had told them the machines would not permit.  They did this by first selecting the “straight party” option, which marked votes for every candidate of the selected party on the ballot.  Next, they pressed the boxes for each of the party’s individual candidates, which erased those votes.  Finally, they pressed the “Vote” button, and the screen notified them that they had successfully voted

The right to select our governmental representatives in free, fair and transparent elections is the foundation of our democracy.  Before electronic voting, candidates, political parties and ordinary citizens had the right to monitor and observe every step of the election process.  Unfortunately, that is no longer the case.

Neither unreasonably broad warranty restrictions nor the intellectual property claims of private corporations should trump the public’s right to know exactly how their votes are recorded and counted.  Elections officials should not be able to contract away this right when they buy voting machines.  They should not be able to hide behind contracts with private companies to avoid having a bright light shown on the inner workings of the paperless electronic voting machines.  Unless and until everything about how these machines work is open to public scrutiny, voters are being asked to take it on faith that electronic voting is accurate, reliable and secure.  With everything that is known in other fields about the prevalence of programming errors, software bugs, and hacking where computers are concerned, that is asking too much.

What comes next?  The attorneys for the plaintiffs will ask the court to order the defendants to permit full inspections of the voting machines.  They will also proceed to amass more evidence by taking depositions of witnesses from public elections agencies and the private voting machine companies.

Let us know what YOU think info@voteraction.org. Voter Action is a project of the International Humanities Center. www.voteraction.org

REMINDER: Forum On Election Reform Sat. 11/12

Find out all the things you didn’t know about the 2004 election and how we can improve our NM election system. Great panelists. Check it out: Click for flyer

Sponsored by the American Association of University Women West Mesa Branch and the Social Action Committee, First Unitarian Church.

ACTION ALERT: Attend Kickoff Wed. 11/9 of Campaign to Raise NM Minimum Wage

No one who works full time should live in poverty
New Mexicans For A Fair Wage

Minimum Wage Increase to $7.50 in New Mexico Called for by New Mexico Legislators, Broad Coalition

WHAT:  Press Conference

WHO:  Representative Ben Lujan, Speaker of the House and New Mexicans For A Fair Wage

Speakers:
• Speaker Ben Lujan
• Allen Sanchez, Executive Director, New Mexico Catholic Conference
• David Coss, Santa Fe City Councilor
• Frank Montano, Santa Fe School Board Member and Businessman
• Gerry Bradley, Economist, New Mexico Voices for Children
• Martin Heinrich, Albuquerque City Councilor

Also in Attendance:  Representative Peter Wirth; Senator John Grubesic; and members of the New Mexicans for a Fair Wage coalition.

WHEN:  Wednesday, November 9, 2005 at 2:00 PM

WHERE:  Roundhouse Rotunda, Santa Fe

WHY:  To announce support for increase of state minimum wage to $7.50 per hour, with annual indexing to inflation, and no preemption of local wage ordinances.

We need a big turnout for this event to show the widespread support that exists for raising the minimum wage in NM. If you can swing it, you're urged to join activists from all the coalition groups at the Roundhouse tomorrow to kickoff the campaign!

New Mexicans For A Fair Wage Coalition Members Include:

New Mexicans For A Fair Wage Coalition Members Include:

ACORN
Albuquerque Musicians’ Association
American Federation of Teachers New Mexico
AFSCME
ARC of N.M.
Community Action N.M.
Democracy for New Mexico
Empowering Our Communities in New Mexico
Enlace Communitario
Green Party N.M.
Grey Panthers
Health Action N.M.
Hispano Roundtable of New Mexico
Hogares, Inc.
Homeless Advocacy Coalition
Lutheran Office of Governmental Ministry
MANA
Mountain West Regional Council of Carpenters
National Education Association
N.M. AFL-CIO
N.M. Alliance for Retired Americans
N.M Catholic Conference
N.M. Building Construction and Trades Council
N.M. Center on Law and Poverty
N.M. Conference of Churches
N.M. Council on Crime and Delinquency
N.M. Federation of Labor Retiree Council
N.M. Human Needs Coordinating Council
N.M. Voices for Children
N.M. Pediatric Society
N.M. Public Health Association
Parents Reaching Out
Santa Fe County Sheriff’s Office
Santa Fe Living Wage Network
Somos Un Pueblo Unido
Southwest Organizing Project
UNM Law and Society