Canvassing Board unanimously certifiesresults in NM district 2 congressional race
A key New Mexico county has certified results of a closely watched U.S. House race in New Mexico while the Republican is refusing to concede and alleging voting irregularities.
The Doña Ana County Canvassing Board voted unanimously Tuesday to certify the results that showed Democrat Xochitl Torres Small defeating Republican Yvette Herrell.
Herrell had declared victory on election night, despite the high number of outstanding ballots in Dona Ana County – a Democratic stronghold. On Saturday, Herrell told Fox News there were “over 100 documented complaints” about voting irregularities. She didn’t provide evidence and her campaign has not returned repeated voicemails, text messages and emails seeking details about her accusations.
The Canvassing Board is now sending its certification to the Secretary of State for the final stamp of approval.
In Doña Ana County, 61,328 registered voters cast their votes in the midterm elections compared to 41,586 in the 2014 midterms.
Doña Ana County Clerk Amanda Lopez Askin told ABC-7, “The great news is Dona Ana County voted in amazing numbers, and what that meant is being understaffed led to delays in processing the absentee ballots.”
There were 8, 517 absentee ballots compared to the 2, 538 absentee ballots in 2014.
Askin attributed another delay in the process of ballots to the order in which votes were county.
Previously, absentee ballots were processed first, early voting second, and then election day votes. This year, Askin said absentee ballots were counted last.
“The absentee ballots had to be processed by the absent voter board and they started as soon as they realistically could on Sunday (November 3), and Tuesday (November 6) midnight they were just half way through” Askin said. She added that the board wanted to make sure they counted accurately, so the count was delayed.
Askin said she plans to address this years delays to prevent this situation from happening again.
Yvette Herrell was the projected winner for Southern New Mexico’s U.S. House race/ However, Democrat Xochitl Torres Small gained the lead as absentee votes were being processed.
According to the Albuquerque Journal, “When those ballots were added to the mix, Torres Small’s lead in the contest increased from about 2,800 votes to 3,539.”
The unofficial election results according to the Secretary of State show Torres Small with 39, 190 votes and Herrell with 21, 462 votes.
The Secretary of State is expected to meet Thursday, November 29 to review the election results and give the final stamp of approval.
