Recount Sought in N.M. Presidential Election
By Barry Massey
The Associated Press 30 NOvember 2004
SANTA FE ? Green and Libertarian Party presidential candidates are seeking a statewide recount of ballots in New Mexico's presidential contest that President Bush won by a 5,988-vote margin.
Green Party nominee David Cobb and Libertarian candidate Michael Badnarik want a recount in all precincts and a recheck of voting machines to ensure an accurate count of presidential ballots, said Blair Bobier, a spokesman for the Cobb campaign.
"We feel that for protection of the voting process and ensuring that people have not only the right to vote but to have their vote count, that a recount is warranted," Bobier said Tuesday in a telephone interview.
It's uncertain whether a recount could be completed before New Mexico's presidential electors are scheduled meet Dec. 13 to cast their five votes for Bush.
Democratic Gov. Bill Richardson said, "I don't believe a recount is needed."
Richardson said "we know what the problems" are with the state election system, and he plans to propose changes during next year's legislative session, including uniform standards for determining whether a provisional ballot is valid and will be counted.
"I think the result is clear ? President Bush won by less than 1 percent," Richardson said at a news conference.
The secretary of state's office confirmed it had received the recount request along with a deposit of $114,000.
Denise Lamb, director of the state bureau of elections, said she was trying to determine whether a larger deposit was necessary. She also stressed that the campaigns could end up paying the cost of the recount ? an amount much greater than the deposit ? if the outcome of the race is not changed after ballots are tallied again.
Cobb and Badnarik announced earlier this month they intend to seek a recount in Ohio ? the state that essentially decided the presidential race in favor of Bush ? because of reports of alleged voting irregularities.
Bobier said there also had been voting problems in New Mexico. About 18,000 provisional ballots were cast although many were disqualified, and Bobier expressed concerns about the lack of a verified paper trail for some electronic voting machines. Lamb said only a small portion of voting machines statewide were so-called touch screen machines.
Under New Mexico law, a candidate seeking a recount must pay a deposit of $50 for each precinct for which a recount is demanded and a deposit of $10 for each voting machine for which a recheck is sought. There are nearly 1,500 precincts statewide.
If no error or fraud is found that changes the outcome of the race, the applicant must pay for costs of the recount. The state or county pays if the recount changes the winner.
The campaigns of Cobb and Badnarik, for example, could be responsible for paying mileage of county sheriffs in serving summons to potentially thousands of precinct board members across New Mexico along with mileage of precinct board workers to appear at courthouses for the recount.
The presidential race in New Mexico was among the closest in the country.
Bush won with 376,930 votes, or 49.8 percent; Democrat John Kerry received 370,942 votes, or 49 percent, according to official returns certified by the state canvassing board.
Badnarik received 2,382 vote, or 0.3 percent; Cobb got 1,226, or 0.2 percent.
Greg Graves, executive director of the state Republican Party, said it was highly unlikely a recount would change the outcome of the presidential race in New Mexico because Bush won by almost 6,000 votes.
"With 3,000 votes to change, it would be difficult to flip. I don't think they're out there," Graves said.
Even if a recount showed Bush lost New Mexico, the state's five electoral votes are insufficient to tilt the presidential race nationally in favor of Kerry.
"Winning it (New Mexico) means a great deal to the Bush-Cheney people and the Bush-Cheney supporters," said Graves. "I would hate to see it flip, but I don't think that a recount will get it there."
