Republican congressional candidate Yvette Herrell’s legal team completed its inspection of absentee ballot materials in Doña Ana County.
“From my perspective, the process went smoothly,” said Doña Ana County Clerk Amanda Lopez Askin of the court-ordered ballot impoundment and inspection process.
“The ballots are officially back in the Doña Ana County Clerk’s custody,” Lopez Askin said. “As far as next steps, that would definitely be a question for the Yvette Herrell campaign.”
Herrell’s legal team did not respond to repeated requests for an interview and did not offer any comment about the inspection process or any results after reviewing the ballot materials.
State statute allows any candidate the right to inspect election materials, and Herrell filed a lawsuit seeking impoundment of more than 8,000 absentee ballots cast in Doña Ana County after Torres Small came from behind to win the election after a delay in counting absentee ballots.
Herrell’s five-person legal team had 10 days to complete its inspection of ballot materials, with the deadline falling on Wednesday.
“To our knowledge, they’ve scanned everything and made copies of everything they requested to see,” said Kate Girard, a legal representative for Torres Small.
Girard was present at the impoundment, in contact with the county clerk and Herrell’s legal team and during the process. “To date, they haven’t pointed to anything specific,”she said.
Under state law, losing candidates have 30 days from the time a winning candidate receives a final certificate of election in which to contest the result. Such challenges are rare in New Mexico and would have to be filed in state District Court.
“Hopefully, if there’s something that they think is wrong, they’ll ask questions earlier than later,” Girard said.
Under state law, the deadline for Herrell to contest the election is Jan. 6. Torres Small is set to take office as the new representative for the 2nd Congressional District on Jan. 3.
Meanwhile, Herrell is expected to share the data collected by her legal team during the inspection of ballot materials with Republican state House candidate Bev Courtney, who also lost on Election Day and filed her own petition to impound absentee ballots after the election.
