The government watchdog group Common Cause New Mexico on Wednesday questioned the claims of voter fraud made last week by state Republicans. In a press release, the nonpartisan, nonprofit government watchdog group expressed its concerns:

After carefully examining the evidence, Common Cause New Mexico has concluded that recent assertions regarding “undeniable proof that there was voter fraud in the June election” are simply inaccurate. Contrary to the claims of a Republican spokesperson, the copies of registration forms that the party released to the media last week do not constitute clear evidence of “voter fraud in the 2008 primary in Albuquerque.”

Evidence of inappropriate voter registrations is a very serious matter, and it’s important that all such instances be investigated by the appropriate authorities. After closely examining the evidence presented by New Mexico Republicans, however, Common Cause New Mexico has found that the party’s claim of “bombshell” evidence of actual voter misconduct was grossly overstated.

 

Rep. Justine Fox-Young (R-Albuquerque)

Rep. Justine Fox-Young (R-Albuquerque)

To recap: On Thursday, Oct. 16, state Republicans held a press conference at which State Rep. Justine Fox-Young claimed: ”We really have a bombshell — evidence of voter fraud in the 2008 primary in Albuquerque…. We are presenting undeniable proof that there was voter fraud in the June election.”

GOP representatives showed off voter registration cards for 10 of those suspect voters, pointing out that the cards were either missing dates of birth or Social Security Numbers or, more important, that the Social Security numbers were shared by other registered voters.

On Saturday, ACORN, which had registered many of the voters at issue, held its own press conference and produced two of them in person. The Albuquerque Journal reported: Group Confirms Some Suspect Voters as Legitimate.

On Monday, national Republicans backed off of claims of voter fraud, focusing instead on the lesser charge of voter registration fraud.

Wednesday, as NMI reported, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico sent a letter asking the state attorney general to initiate a criminal investigation into whether the Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office may have released confidential information to the Republican Party of New Mexico, and whether the party then publicly distributed that information in violation of state laws.

After a search of electronic records, the county clerk denied that the printouts of voter registration cards came from her office.

As Common Cause pointed out in its release:

New Mexico state law clearly prohibits the Secretary of State, county clerks or any other registration agent from releasing such information [Social Security numbers and dates of birth] to the public (§1-4-50 NMSA 1978). The Bernalillo County Clerk has assured Common Cause that copies of voter registration forms officially provided by her office to the state Republican party would have had such information redacted. Attempts by Common Cause New Mexico to seek clarification from the state Republican party regarding how they obtained voters’ social security numbers have gone unanswered.

Asked Wednesday where the state GOP acquired the printouts of the voter registration forms, a spokeswoman for the party said they came from the Bernalillo County Clerk’s office.

When informed that the clerk’s office had denied printing out the forms, the spokeswoman said she would investigate further.