Sunland Park City Employee Arrested

Silvia Gomez was led out of the Sunland Park Police Department sobbing, in handcuffs.

“She registered them to vote and (told them) who to vote for, which is Mr. Salinas,” said District Attorney Amy Orlando.

Orlando also said Gomez knowingly registered voters, but it’s how and who she registered that landed her behind bars.

According to the arrest affidavit two El Pasoans visited the Sunland Park Senior Center, where Silvia Gomez works, and that’s when Gomez, who’s also a voter registrar, asked them to sign up to vote.

“They explained to her that they couldn’t because they were from El Paso, Misses Gomez told them that it was okay for them to register and to vote. And she signed them up,” said Orlando.

According to the affidavit, Gomez used her own address in Sunland Park as the place of residence for the two El Pasoans.

“She didn’t know these people,” said Orlando .”They’ve never lived in her home, they came from El Paso for that day.”

The affidavit also states that Gomez admitted to registering several people to vote using her own address.

Gomez is charged with two counts of false voting and two counts of conspiracy to commit false voting.

“I believe that there are citizens that are being manipulated and are being used as pawns in a small group of criminal activity,” insisted Orlando.

Orlando wants to send a clear message, “We want the citizens of Dona Anna county to know that as the District Attorney, I won’t stop until we can find all of the people involved in this conspiracy to try and control an election”, said Orlando.

Orlando is urging anyone who feels they’ve been manipulated into committing voter fraud to come forward, and if they do, they will not face criminal charges.

Gomez’s bond is set at $50,000.

If Gomez does bond out, the affadavit states she cannot step on the Sunland Park City Hall premises.