Authorities Looking Into Voter Fraud Allegations In Dona Ana County

The Las Cruces Police Department is looking into complaints from Dona Ana County voters who allege their party affiliation was changed on their voter registration forms.

On the seven voter registration cards in question, the form contained a handwritten ?R,? indicating Republican Party affiliation, when prospective voters allege they indicated ?no party? affiliation at the time of registration, police said.

“Obviously if that happened it’s dead wrong,? Mark Van Dyke, Republican Party Chairman, said. ?We are whole heartedly against that.”

Van Dyke said the Bureau of Elections notified his office about the possibly tampered voter registration cards several weeks ago.

?They’re saying there may have been an alteration as to party registration,? Van Dyke said. ?This in no way impacts a vote, or a voters ability to cast a vote, so there’s absolutely no impact on a voters confidence as to whether their vote will or will not be counted.”

While no information was found to confirm or deny the alleged fraud, Van Dyke said, the possibility anything like this could happen has since been eliminated.

“We immediately changed how we do the registration,? Van Dyke said. ?Formerly we had a process of running the registrations through the office through a single individual. We found that may have been problematic and while we’re not sure what happened what they say did happen could happen, so we have instigated policies where now each individual voter registration agent is responsible for their own cards.”

An investigation is ongoing.