Confidence in New Mexico election results the topic of state, national conversation

New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said at a Jan. 26 press conference that audits of New Mexico's elections have been conducted by an independent third party since 2006.

Toulouse Oliver said that the Secretary of State's Office began auditing elections during a pilot program in which the 2006 elections were audited to test the process.

"We did the very first risk-limiting audit, we actually worked together when I was (Bernalillo) County Clerk with Dr. ( Lonna Rae) Atkeson, on a pilot project in order to create recommendations for new state law," Toulose Oliver said.

The procedures used in the pilot eventually became state law and an administrative rule in 2008. The processes were updated in 2010, Toulouse Oliver said.

"I think the biggest challenge is that people either don't know that we do them or they are willfully ignorant and by that I mean they'll see we've provided that audit report, especially from 2020, to who has asked for it and they literally just dismiss it," Toulouse Oliver said.

"Even though it's a third party independent auditor that oversees that process here in New Mexico. Even though there are so many safeguards built into the process. We have a lot of work to do to make sure that folks know we already do that here."

Election audits were the topic of discussion between New Mexico State Auditor Brian Colon and Rachel Maddow, host of the Rachel Maddow Show on MSNBC, on Jan. 27. Colon confirmed that his office had opened an investigation, following a complaint by an anonymous whistleblower, into a contract approved by Otero County Commissioners to hire a company which would conduct an audit of the county's 2020 General Election results.

On Jan. 13, the Otero County Commission approved the $49,750 contract with EchoMail to perform the audit.

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"When we did do a review, we determined it was appropriate to open up an investigation exam on this particular transaction," Colon told Maddow. "We're gathering information now, but I will tell you that my job is to restore people's faith in government and I'm not sure that's going on in Otero County right now."

Colon told Maddow that the investigation would explore the reasons behind the contract approval and possible waste in government.

"What I always have to look through the lens of is, is this transaction in the best interest of taxpayers?" Colon said. "In this concern, we've got to wonder if this has anything to do with a personal agenda and that's going to be part of the question: What drove this transaction? Was it appropriate and legal and compliant with our codes and regulations and procurement process and then was it in the best interest in the taxpayers or was this a situation where we really had waste in government?"

University of New Mexico Professor Lonna Rae Atkeson, director at the Center for the Study of Voting, Elections and Democracy and Executive Director of the Institute for Social Research at the University of New Mexico, said independent firms who audit elections often have no experience in elections.

"I think the problem with independent firms coming in with those auditing ideas is that they really don't have any experience in elections," Atkeson said.

"The election processes, an audit going on, the chain of custody. It's a very unique experience. It's a very unique process. It's something that produces an election."

Elections are more complicated than just setting up ballot boxes and printing out ballots, Atkeson said.

"I think what we need to be thinking about is how can local election officials - what can they make public to demonstrate the quality and integrity of the process," Atkeson said. "What can they put forward that shows the chain of custody and how the ballots were protected and processed and kept secret."

Atkeson co-authored the 2020 New Mexico Election Administration, Voter Security and Election Reform Report with UNM Political Science Professor Wendy L. Hansen, which addressed voter confidence in the recent election as well as results of a study of voter turnout and how voters cast ballots.

"Voter confidence is a necessary component of a democratic society. Voter confidence represents a fundamental belief in the fairness of the electoral process and ultimately the legitimacy of the government," the report read.

The report showed that the 2020 General Election had the largest voter turnout in recent history with 69.7% of registered voters and 61.3% of eligible voters casting a ballot.

In the 2020 election, 35% of 2020 voters voted by mail, 49% voted early in-person, and 16% voted on Election Day, the report states. Voting by mail is usually about 10% of how voters have cast their ballot in the last several elections.

Of those who voted by mail in 2020, 22% percent of voters indicated they chose to vote by mail due to the COVID-19 pandemic, while other reasons for voting by mail included being out of town (3%), convenience (18%), other obligations on Election Day (2%), and a physical disability (3%), the report states.

The report, among other items, suggests all voting locations offer a voter privacy sleeve, usually a folder that is large enough to cover the main voting area on a ballot as a means of keeping ballots private.

Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter.

This article originally appeared on Alamogordo Daily News: Secretary of State, State Auditor discuss election audits