Dear Editor,

What are the county clerk's duties? One is keeping voter rolls updated. Decades of mismanagement, both at county and state levels, leave candidates despairing. Pay your fees, get precinct lists and use them, right? Not quite. That misinformation yields so little help you can question clerks' salaries. Wrong people are given at addresses; discontinued, incorrect phones and fax numbers are printed. Much misinformation is years old and the "new lists" are mostly useless, in spite of voters' attempts to correct the information.

Maps are another problem. Couldn't the clerk's office find the large frame-protected map the school swears it gave them after its redistricting? Why deny having this information a few weeks back? And suddenly, it now appears on their wall. Why did the elections' deputy tell school personnel she was too busy to help them plan the elections process back in November and get a lawyer to help? It's her job!

The Secretary of State said the county clerk IS responsible for the election. Why did the clerk, as the Silver City Daily Press reports, miscall one voting district as 2 instead of 3, and confuse voters? Why turn away qualified voters and imply that the school did it? That is serious.

How has the clerk's office helped Silver District in this election? Why has the cooperation level been so difficult? Why make excuses and refuse help to a superintendent? This office's actions are not right. What is going on here? And when will something be done about it?

Margaret Hopper
Silver City