I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
The controversial Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) used two cases from New Mexico in a fundraising e-mail sent out Thursday afternoon to supporters.
A field director in ACORN’s voter registration program, Mouath B. Baesho, wrote the e-mail and said ACORN registered 1.3 million citizens around the nation to vote this year. That number is probably inflated. Baesho wrote about Jenais Griego, a 67-year-old newly naturalized citizen, from Albuquerque.
“In April, I helped her fill out a voter registration application — right after the ceremony where she was sworn in as a U.S. citizen,” Baesho wrote. “I’ll never forget the look of pride on her face as she finished filling out the form, ready to participate fully in our democracy.”
Then Baesho turned to the allegations of illegal votes cast by those registered by ACORN by the New Mexico Republican Party. Baesho said ACORN came “under fire by partisan operatives” who attempted to stop voters from voting by voter intimidation.
This included visits to Griego’s house by a private investigator who attempted to find improprieties in Griego’s voter registration. The private investigators were hired by Pat Rogers — a prominent New Mexico Republican lawyer — to research a possible lawsuit against ACORN.
The e-mail quoted Griego from a press conference.
“Nobody can scare me out of voting. Nobody,” Jenais Griego said. “It even makes me want to vote more.”
Then, Baesho asked for “a tax-deductible gift” of “$50, $100, or $500 so we can continue to protect voter rights in low-income communities in 2009 and beyond.”
