[LWVNM Action] Turnout, security at stake in election debate

[Richard Mason]

The League was asked to submit a "friend of the court" brief in this case.
Today the League, working with Common Cause, is submitting a brief in
support of the SOS/County Clerks request for a vote-by-mail supplemented by
mobile* &* other voting centers. The League believes that extraordinary
times, the pandemic, calls for extraordinary measures to assure maximum
voter participation. Putting the additional obstacle of requesting an
absentee ballot will result in lower voter participation.

Dick Mason

*Turnout, security at stake in election debate*

*By Dan McKay / Journal Staff Writer Updated: Tuesday, April 7th, 2020 at
10:11pm*

*Copyright © 2020 Albuquerque Journal*

SANTA FE – Voters turned out in unusually high numbers last year when
Albuquerque Public Schools conducted a special election by mail.

Nearly 29% of voters participated, far higher than the single-digit turnout
that school elections sometimes draw.

But about 53,000 ballots – of the roughly 420,000 mailed out – were
returned to election officials as “undeliverable,” meaning they didn’t
reach the voters they were intended for, because the people hadn’t updated
their voter registration or some other snag.

The increased turnout and bounced-back ballots illustrate the potential
consequences as New Mexico debates how to conduct a primary election amid
the virus pandemic. Election Day is June 2.

Twenty-seven county clerks and Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver
are backing an election-by-mail system similar to the APS one, but with
some adjustments to comply with federal law for elections involving federal
candidates. They also say changes in state law since 2019 will reduce the
number of undeliverable ballots – because clerks will no longer send
ballots to inactive voters.

On the other side of the debate are the Republican Party of New Mexico, 29
GOP legislators and a few county clerks. They say conducting the election
by absentee ballot would be better, using a two-step process in which
voters would submit a request for a ballot to be mailed to them, ensuring
the ballots get to the right addresses.

Republican Party Chairman Steve Pearce said he would like to see Election
Day polling locations closed and the voting occur entirely through the
absentee process. His party’s Supreme Court petition doesn’t explicitly
seek closure of polling locations.

The two-step process is the better option for the primary, especially given
inaccuracies in New Mexico’s voter rolls, Pearce said.

“Vote-by-mail is much more susceptible to fraud,” he said, “and the mail-in
absentee ballots are not. It’s just that simple.”

Daniel Ivey-Soto, an attorney for the 27 clerks and a Democratic state
senator from Albuquerque, said the absentee option has its own flaws. It
would disenfranchise people who usually vote on Election Day and are
unfamiliar with the need to request an absentee ballot ahead of time, which
creates an extra hurdle to vote.

The two-step process, Ivey-Soto said, also threatens to overwhelm the
Postal Service and election workers – who would have to handle twice as
many transactions than if they just mailed out a ballot to everyone.

He also contends safeguards are already in place to thwart fraudulent
votes. Voters would authenticate their ballots by noting their year of
birth, Ivey-Soto said, a process outlined in the election-by-mail system
that clerks are seeking permission to use.

“Even when looking for extraordinary relief,” he said, “we’re trying to
stay within the procedures in the election code, so we honor the
Constitution, preserve democracy and save people’s lives.”

The dispute is both legal and political. The 27 clerks are asking the
Supreme Court for permission to close Election Day polling sites and move
almost entirely to a mail election. A hearing is set for April 14.

Republican lawmakers, meanwhile, have called on the governor to convene a
special session of the Legislature to work out emergency election
procedures.

Brian Sanderoff, president of Research & Polling Inc., which conducts
scientific surveys for the Journal and other organizations, said each
option has its strengths. The APS election demonstrated the power of an
election by mail to boost turnout, he said, but the two-part application
and absentee ballot process provides an extra security step.

“There’s no perfect solution,” Sanderoff said.
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