Ms Bachman
During the 14 June 2022 Commission meeting (app 1:36), you presented a story to illustrate “Trust” from the 2020 elections.
” A voter….and is seated by the entrance…..very elderly man, Spanish speaking only.…I am the Deputy County Clerk and I am here to help you….”
Your story brings some questions to my mind, which I am sure you, as the Deputy County Clerk thought about as you were dealing with this “Spanish speaking only” individual…..
- Per https://www.sos.state.nm.us/voting-and-elections/voter-information-portal/voter-registration-information/ , the Voter Eligibility Requirements state in order to register and vote in NM an applicant, among other requirements must be “A citizen of the United States”.
- Per https://www.uscis.gov/forms/explore-my-options/become-a-us-citizen-through-naturalization, to apply for naturalization to become a US citizen, you must ” Be able to read, write, and speak basic English;.
The above requirements are from NM and USG sources.
No allegations, simply asking some questions to have better clarity and understanding of your story……
- As the Deputy County Clerk, did it occur to you if this individual was legally authorized to vote, because he had to be a citizen and when he obtained his citizenship, he had to be able to read and write basic English ?
- Did it occur to you that maybe just maybe this individual was not eligible to vote ?
- Did you confirm the ballot belonged to the individual that brought it, maybe it belonged to someone else or did you just “assume” it was his”?
- Under your scenario, how many individuals (possibly) do you estimate “actually have fooled the system” by falsely or illegally voting ? And what damage is that doing to the community ? state ? nation ?
I am not alleging illegal or fraudulent voting took place in your case. What I am concerned with are how many cases of voter fraud have “flown under the radar” when less experience election employees were in similar situations?
You speak of “our democracy will fail” but yet, and I know this is above your “pay grade”, we have no voter ID, we dont confirm signatures on ballots or match to a legal form of ID……
IMO- The narrative that asking for “voter ID” is voter suppression is in itself “misinformation”….. any reasonable person knows this is less than factual and occurs in isolated cases.
Yet this is a major political talking point that is “blindly” accepted as true and continues to be promulgated nationally especially to minorities to depict them as “victims”. Not making it right but disinformation comes from all sides.
Thank you for your time…….
Juan D Garcia
575-449-5821
