Ballot investigation in final stages

Copyright © 2008
Gallup Independent
By Helen Davis
Cibola County Bureau

GRANTS — What about those missing 182 ballots from the June primary election? Cibola County voters can expect an answer to the primary election question that has gone underground but continues to plague area citizens.

Phil Sisneros, spokesman for the New Mexico Attorney General’s office, said Wednesday that an AGO investigation into paper ballots missing from two county precincts is still under way.

“It is a front-burner issue,” he said.

Sisneros said the investigation should be complete before the general election in November, but that he could not comment further on the ongoing investigation.

The missing ballots caused questions and turmoil in the Cibola County Clerk’s office following the tight election, complicated by the unusually close race for the District 30 senate seat. Using electronic backup systems from the voting machines, the secretary of state validated the election results. The race for Democratic candidate went to incumbent David Ulibarri, with less than a half percent lead over Clemente Sanchez of Grants.

Sanchez questioned how the ballots could have disappeared.

Ulibarri is now questioning his Republican opponent Jose Silva’s right to be on the ballot. The senator challenged Silva’s place of residence at the time the Republican declared his candidacy, requesting a ruling from the secretary of state’s office on whether Silva could remain on the fall ballot.

Secretary of State Mary Herrera ruled that Silva’s name should remain on the ballot.

On Sept. 3, Ulibarri filed a petition against Herrera and Silva in the Santa Fe district court, but Herrera’s ruling was upheld in a hearing on Sept. 9.