SANTA FE — The New Mexico state electoral body confirmed the results of the midterm elections Tuesday by a 3-0 vote, praising the polling officers and poll workers.
The board meeting in the State Capitol Building was the culmination of a once-routine election certification process that has become a flashpoint in some places for those expressing distrust of electoral systems.
The election results were confirmed largely without issue in jurisdictions across the country, although Republican officials in one rural Arizona county have so far refused to do so despite no evidence of counting problems.
Election officials in each of New Mexico’s 33 counties confirmed the results of the Nov. 8 election, in which Democrats retained control of every state elected office and flipped one seat in Congress.
Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Democratic Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver were both re-elected to four-year terms. You serve on the State Board of Elections along with Chief Justice of the Supreme Court Shannon Bacon.
“I’m really proud of the safety, dedication and professionalism at every polling station,” Lujan Grisham said on Tuesday.
In New Mexico, doubts about the 2020 election have been fueled by a lawsuit from Donald Trump’s campaign and a fake group of voters poised to endorse him. That year, a number of local and extrastate Trump allies hosted forums across the state to spread election conspiracy theories, including former White House strategist Steve Bannon, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and Republican nominee for secretary of state Audrey Trujillo.
More:The 2020 conscientious objection is on the ballot in New Mexico this year. These are the candidates.
In June’s state primary, the Otero County Commission initially refused to confirm the results, citing distrust of vote-counting systems — although the county’s top electoral commission said there were no problems. The commission reversed course 2-1 to certify the elementary school after Toulouse Oliver successfully petitioned the Supreme Court for an order directing the local board to certify the charter.
In Torrance County, commissioners took unusual steps to provide assurances, including an unofficial hand count of primary ballots.
In other interim results, Democratic challenger Gabe Vasquez won congressional election in New Mexico’s 2nd Circuit and defeated incumbent Representative Yvette Herrell in a Hispanic-majority district along the Mexico border.
Republicans are challenging the new 2nd District outline as part of a redistribution plan by Democratic lawmakers that splits a politically conservative oilfield region into three congressional districts.
The statewide confirmation of the vote also initiated automatic recounts for two seats in the House of Representatives. Democrats won at least 44 of 70 seats, excluding the contests, which are subject to recounts.
Incumbent Democratic State Rep. Candie Sweetser is vying against Republican Jenifer Marie Jones in a district spanning the “Bootheel” of southwest New Mexico, including the cities of Deming, Lordsburg and Columbus.
In northwest Albuquerque, Republican Robert Henry Moss is battling Democrat Charlotte Little for a seat in the open House of Representatives.
