New Mexico recount effort stalled

Chris Graham  Augusta Free Press

It's not looking like there will be a presidential-vote recount in New Mexico.

Green Party and Libertarian Party leaders are continuing to press for a second counting of the votes in the battleground state won by George W. Bush by a slim 6,000-vote margin over John Kerry on Election Day.

The parties' request for a recount is now in the hands of the state supreme court - which has not acted to take up the matter in the wake of a Dec. 15 lower-court ruling that allowed a decision of the New Mexico State Canvassing Board requiring candidates Michael Badnarik and David Cobb to put up $1.4 million toward the cost of the recount to stand.

"The state supreme court is the citizens' last recourse to justice, and citizens are demanding their right to a meaningful recount," said Rick Lass, the local organizer of the New Mexico recount effort.

"The justices must step forward and guarantee the people that their votes will be counted completely and accurately," Lass said.

The state's presidential electors met on Dec. 13 and cast New Mexico's five electoral votes for Bush, a Republican.

The results of the Nov. 2 election will not be official until the United States Senate moves formally to count electoral votes from all 50 states and the District of Columbia on Jan. 6.

"We believe the governor, secretary of state and state canvassing board are violating New Mexico law by delaying the recount and by setting conditions for it which have no legal precedent," said Blair Bobier, the media director for the David Cobb presidential campaign.