Herrell’s campaign begins inspection of absentee ballots in NM District 2

Yvette Herrell’s campaign Monday morning began inspecting the 8,500 absentee ballots from Doña Ana County midterm elections.

“Today we are complying with the petition that was initiated by the Herrell campaign,” said Doña Ana County Clerk Amanda López Askin. “We are offering our absentee ballots to be reviewed, scanned, whatever they need to do.”

Herrell’s campaign is providing their own staff for the review, however, the County Clerk’s office is providing labor and the use of the building, as well as photocopying that needs to be done in connection with the redaction of voters’ private information, López Askin said.

“We want to assure voters, as well as any candidates that our election was run with fidelity and it was administered well and had integrity,” she said.

On election night, Republican Yvette Herrell prematurely declared victory over Democrat Xochitl Torres Small in New Mexico’s second congressional district race, even though the absentee ballots from Doña Ana County had not yet been entered into the system.

In a stunning upset almost 24 hours after polls closed, Torres Small was projected to win the race by almost three thousand votes at 6:30 p.m. on Wednesday night.

“We have a second congressional district race where everybody goes to bed on Tuesday night thinking that I’ve been declared the winner,” Herrell said on Fox News. “Suddenly on Wednesday morning, they hear that there were 8,000 ballots that came up out of nowhere.”

Monday marks the fifth time the absentee ballots are going through inspection, López Askin said. The votes were first tallied by the absent voter board, then confirmed by the county canvas, then the state canvas, then a county clerk systems check, according to the clerk’s office.

“If there’s any allegations, I would be interested in hearing them,” López Askin said. “As well as supporting a good system that maintains integrity.”

Representatives from both campaigns were present on Monday. The process could take as long as ten days, López Askins aid.

Bobbi Shearer, a spokesman for Herrell’s campaign, said a team of five people is using scanners to make copies of all 8,500 absentee ballots. She declined to comment.