Good thing the third parties are pushing recounts in New Mexico:

http://www.votecobb.org/press/2004/nov/pr2004-11-29.php.

High time. 

 

Aside from strictly local concerns, New Mexico is one of four states in which the disparity between exit polls and the unofficial published vote tally also made the difference between Kerry and Bush coming out ahead.  The New Mexico exit polls had Kerry 51.3% to Bush 48.7%.  The published vote tally had Bush 50% to Kerry 49% -- obviously still a close race, but a swing (from exit poll to tally) of 2.3 points, and more to the point a swing from one candidate to the other.

 

Even a quick spot check produces a short roundup of some reportedproblems and/or anomalies, around the state, like the following:

 

Sandoval County, NM: “Democrats swept local races in the county but voters broke the trend by giving President Bush a 1,208-vote victory over Democratic challenger John F. Kerry,” Albuquerque Journal, Nov. 13, “County Certifies Results of Races.”

 

Bernalillo County, NM: “In addition to voter registration problems, some provisional ballots from one precinct will prompt an examination. The batch showed that all disqualified ballots were Democrat, and those that qualified were all Republican, Herrera said. She said she did not know the number of ballots, and she did not know the precinct number,” Albuquerque Journal, Nov. 11, “Glitch delays count.”

 

Bernalillo County, NM: “Bernalillo County commissioners agreed to certify election results Friday, 10 days after Election Day, despite concerns that hundreds of ballots were thrown out on a technicality,” Albuquerque Journal, Nov. 12, “Finally, a County Tally.”

 

www.DemocraticUnderground.com has posted a spread sheet indicating the disparities between the margin of votes received by Kerry, around the state, and received by lesser Democratic candidates for positions including local judgeships.  Very interesting.  Sure seems as though a lot of otherwise slate-voting Democrats came up with an ineluctable hatred for Kerry, once they got to the polls.

  

Problems in nearby Nevada also seem rife, by the way.