By Dan Mckay, Leann Holt And Trip Jennings/
Journal Staff Writers
New Mexico's switch to paper ballots is off to a rocky start.
In Bernalillo County, election workers ran out of paper ballots in two precincts about two hours after polls opened Tuesday morning, and several more precincts were running low on ballots later in the day.
At most locations, voting appeared to be going smoothly early in the day, though there were reports of voting sites running out of pens to mark ballots and having difficulty with the machines that scan the ballots.
But at two precincts — one in the far Northeast Heights and the other on the West Side — voters left in frustration after ballots ran out. Voters were unable to vote for about an hour at precinct 603 near Tramway and Paseo, observers said. Precinct 57 at Painted Sky Elementary near Ladera and Unser also ran out of ballots.
The county says the shortages were fixed within about 30 minutes.
An attorney for the state Republican Party, Pat Rogers, said the problems violated federal law, and he said the party could take the issue to court "as a last resort."
Jaime Diaz, Bernalillo County's election administrator, acknowledged that there may have been a violation.
"We would assume there is an infraction that occurred," Diaz said at a news conference Tuesday afternoon. "There were no ballots to be issued."
Diaz said about 150 ballots had been sent to each of the affected precincts, even though each has around 2,000 registered voters.
The allocation of ballots for each precinct is determined by the Secretary of State's Office, a county spokeswoman said.
Diaz said he called state officials on Sunday to express concern that not enough ballots had been ordered for some precincts. He also contacted the printing company on Sunday and again on Tuesday to let the printer know he needed the ballots immediately.
Diaz said he had expected state officials to order extra ballots but that it appeared the state miscalculated.
"We had no official input as to the percentage of ballots that were ordered," Diaz said.
Ray Baray, spokesman for the Secretary of State's office, said somehow a "0" was dropped from the order for ballots in the two precincts that ran out Tuesday morning.
Precinct 603 at Church of the Good Shepherd should have received 1,500 ballots instead of the 150 delivered, while Precinct 57 at Painted Sky Elementary should have received 1,700 instead of the 170 delivered.
"I know Mary is trying to levy the blame on this office," Baray said, referring to Bernalillo County Clerk Mary Herrera. "I really don't feel it is a mistake done by this agency."
Baray said the Bernalillo County Clerk's office should have double-checked a roster of Election Day ballots needed for every precinct across the state that the Secretary of State's office produced in October. The agency sent the roster to county clerks to review for accuracy as well as sending it to the printer, Baray said.
"I cannot imagine why someone didn't do a double check," he said.
Diaz said the county is concerned that three or four more precincts were running low on ballots. He called the printer to arrange for more ballots but wasn't certain they would be available in time.
"We moved as quickly as we could," Diaz said.
The confusion and debate over who was to blame culminated in a bizarre news conference at the county voting warehouse Tuesday afternoon. After Diaz addressed reporters, John Wertheim, chairman of the state Democratic Party, and Rogers, the Republican attorney, stepped before the cameras to offer their views on what had happened.
Wertheim was allowed to speak briefly, but sheriff's deputies stepped in and ordered Wertheim, Rogers and reporters out of the warehouse before Rogers had a chance to speak. The news conference continued on the sidewalk outside, and Rogers and Wertheim took turns addressing the media.
Rogers noted that federal law requires that people who show up to vote must be allowed to do so, and that state law requires that emergency ballots be available.
The ballot shortages occurred in Republican-dominated districts, Rogers said. Wilson asked for a U.S. House committee to step in to oversee the election, Rogers said.
"There's no excuse for this occurring," he said.
Wertheim described the affected areas as "swing precincts" and said the problems were fixed quickly.
Diaz said it was taking anywhere from 10 to 40 minutes for voters to fill out a ballot. Almost 60 items were on the county ballot.
Diaz said prosecutors were investigating complaints that a news reporter was interfering with the voting process at one precinct short on ballots and encouraging people to leave and file complaints.
Wilson, locked in a tight race for re-election against Attorney General Patricia Madrid, blasted County Clerk Herrera for the shortage at precinct 603. Wilson said she won the precinct two years ago with 67 percent of the vote.
"There are more registered Republicans in this precinct than in any other precinct," Wilson said.
The presiding judge at the precinct said she couldn't discuss the problems, but Assistant District Attorney Michael Fricke, who was called to the site, said the precinct was without ballots for about a half-hour.
Donna Price, a poll worker with precinct 537, also at the Tramway and Paseo site, said people waited in line for more than an hour. She said a poll worker at precinct 603 called repeatedly for more ballots.
"It's not fair. It's just like cheating," Price said.
Matt Farrauto, executive director of the state Democratic Party, said his party discovered the shortage of ballots at the precincts.
"We called the county clerk's office and asked them to get ballots over there immediately, and they're in the process of doing that or already have," Farrauto said Tuesday morning.
Some voters, of course, reported no problems at all and said it took only 10 minutes to vote in Bernalillo County.
Among other problems, Herrera said in an interview that about 27 election workers — out of 2,600 — didn't show up Tuesday. Also, one site opened about an hour late because a building manager didn't come in time to open the building, Herrera said.
"It's been busy. It's been crazy," she said.
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