Democratic chairwoman: ‘Undervote’ an option for Democrats who don’t like mayoral candidates

The El Paso County Democratic Chairwoman wants to educate voters about “undervoting”, a move that both mayoral candidates state would hurt El Paso more than it helps.

Dee Margo is facing David Saucedo in the June 10 mayoral runoff election. Chairwoman Iliana Holguin said undervoting could be an option for Democrats who don’t want to vote for either Margo or Saucedo, two candidates Holguin said have voted consistently in the Republican primaries.

“They don’t have to vote for one of two Republican candidates for mayor,” Holguin told ABC-7 about Democrats.

So what is undervoting?

“Undervoting is when a voter goes to the polls, and registers their vote, casts a ballot, but chooses not to vote in a particular election for a particular candidate,” said Holguin.

“So, perhaps if there’s five races on the ballot, they choose to only cast a vote in four, and maybe not the fifth one because either they don’t like the candidate, or candidates.”

On Monday, Margo and Saucedo both told ABC-7 that they don’t agree with the option.

“That is very disappointing,” said mayoral candidate Margo. “First of all, this is a non-partisan election. It should not have any basis whether we are Republican or Democrat from our prior lives or our historical voting preferences.”

Mayoral candidate Saucedo echoed the same sentiment.

“This is another example of party over the people,” said Saucedo. “And at a moment when voter apathy is at an all time high and people need to come out and vote, to be advocating for something like that is really unfortunate. And I believe the people of El Paso deserve better”.

Holguin said that the undervote can serve a very important purpose in the election. “It registers a voter’s dissatisfaction with specific candidates,” said Holguin. “It can certainly serve as a protest vote, so that the those candidates know that there are voters out there who are not happy with their policy positions, or with their party’s belief system.”

She added that educating voters about the undervote is not counterproductive.

“We’re still stressing the importance of going out to vote,” said Holguin. “We’re not telling people not to vote or to stay home. We want them to come out and vote.”

ABC-7 asked Holguin what it is about Margo and Saucedo that she doesn’t like.

“It’s not a matter of liking a candidate,” she answered. “Me, personally, as a Democrat, I don’t believe that either of those candidates, because they are Republicans, will fight for the same things that I would want my mayor to fight for. Which is why I am making the personal decision of undervoting.”

She added, “but, again, that’s a decision that each individual voter has to make for themselves.”

Early voting ended Tuesday, June 6.

There are 360,000 registered voters in El Paso County, yet fewer than 12,000 people have cast their ballot so far in this year’s mayoral runoff election. That’s a little more than half the numbers seen during the same period in the last mayoral runoff election.