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.
ALBUQUERQUE—A third plaintiff, Francine Gonzales, has now joined a federal lawsuit accusing two Republican operatives of voter intimidation. On Monday, U.S. District Court Judge Martha Vázquez will conduct a hearing to consider the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund’s request for a temporary restraining order against Republican attorney Pat Rogers and private investigator Al Romero.
If the order is granted, Rogers and Romero would be restrained against any future acts of intimidation or harassment, said Nina Perales, MALDEF Southwest regional counsel and lead attorney for the plaintiffs.
“The immediate goal is making sure our voters can vote without impediment,” Perales told the Independent this afternoon.
The lawsuit filed by ACLU did not ask for a restraining order, said Whitney Potter of ACLU. A hearing has not yet been set in that case.
At a news conference on Oct. 16 state Rep. Justine Fox-Young announced that she had “undeniable proof that there was voter fraud in the June election,” before passing out packets of information that included voters’ private information as well as a summary of the reasons why the Republicans questioned the validity of the voters’ registrations.
Of those 10 voters, six are now plaintiffs in voter intimidation lawsuits filed by MALDEF and ACLU.
According to ACLU, the dissemination of that information made the voters vulnerable to identity theft and fraud. Both cases allege that having thir names revealed at the conference in connection with fraud amounted to voter intimidation.
Several of the voters also received visits from Romero, the private investigator, that they described as upsetting and intimidating.
Gonzales, the third plaintiff in the MALDEF lawsuit, does not recall a visit from Romero, according to Perales.
“The MALDEF action is a desperate attempt to distract public attention from the real issue,” Republican Party of New Mexico spokeswoman Shira Rawlinson said in an interview. “It should be a surprise to no one that MALDEF has filed a baseless lawsuit for political purposes,” she added.
