Annual review of campaign finances resumes in New Mexico

By MORGAN LEE
Associated Press

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — After a four-year hiatus, state election regulators have resumed spot-checks on campaign finance disclosures by politicians, election candidates and political committees. Results were published Friday, with 10 accounts referred to New Mexico’s fledgling State Ethics Commission and state prosecutors for possible enforcement action. The random sampling of campaign finance disclosures from the 2020 general election cycle taps into a newly deployed electronic campaign finance reporting system at the secretary of state’s office that reconciles an intricate web of campaign contributions, transfers and expenditures. State law requires an annual sampling of 10% of accounts. Some lingering accounts linked to deceased and disgraced politicians were flagged for discrepancies.