Voting & Elections

Mario Jimenez, a former election official in the state who now works as the campaign director for the New Mexico chapter of Common Cause, a watchdog group, noted New Mexico law makes it a criminal offense to knowingly violate election laws. “They were instructed by their county attorney on the things they can and cannot do … despite being notified by their own legal expert and this very experienced county clerk, they continue to wilfully break the law and not serve their community or their constituents.”

“It’s concerning to have people in positions of power who do not believe in the rule of law, which is what our entire system of democracy is based on,” said Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections for the watchdog Common Cause. “Jim Marchant continues to say that he would not have certified the 2020 election. And he continues to say that President Biden did not win. Various courts — I think there were more than 60 lawsuits around the country — found that in fact President Biden did win.”

Mario Jimenez of the progressive watchdog group Common Cause New Mexico said the public can view testing of vote-tallying machines prior to elections in every county, and that certification notices are posted on every machine where voters can see them. “They have no basis — other than ‘we just don’t trust the machine’ — for not certifying the election,” Jimenez said of the Otero County commissioners.

“I’ve never seen this before in my decades of Georgia politics,” Dennis told The Daily Beast. “And it’s specifically because of this outward perception of vote-buying.” ... For voting rights advocates in Georgia—who have spent years fighting state Republican officials’ continuous efforts to further codify voter suppression—the optics of the giveaway struck a freshly exposed nerve. “I find it a little strange that we have a law that basically says people can’t give out food and water so that voters waiting in line can have a comfortable experience, but somehow it’s appropriate to give out gas to voters,” said Dennis, of Common Cause Georgia.

Common Cause, a nonpartisan group focused on upholding democracy, shared concerns over whether the process was rushed. "This action is unprecedented, with challengers finding out about their alleged indiscretions just days before pleading their cases to the Board of Canvassers," Quentin Turner, Common Cause Michigan's policy director, said in a statement.