Attached is my opening statement to the Luna County Commissioners on November 14, 2022, and the packet of information that I provided during the county election meeting, prior to election certification.
The data in the report comes directly from the NMSOS voter records. I received these reports 3x daily, started at 6 a.m. on 10/11/2022 (the first day of early voting) thru 11/12/2022 (the end of the county reconciliation period).
The reconciliation period is similar to balancing a checkbook. However, instead of balancing currency, they are balancing the number of ballots issued.
PROBLEM DISCOVERED
CISA (the cyber security division of Homeland Security) released a statement on 11/9/2022 that no votes/records were deleted by the "election system". However, I was tracking records of absentee ballots requests, and records of ballots issued having been deleted throughout the early voting period.
The attached exhibit file lists the voter records discovered that had been deleted from the election voting system. (There may be more, these are just the ones discovered.)
The NMSOS file number and date/time the register was issued is listed throughout.
The records in part track the date a ballot was requested (in person, or absentee and, if absentee, how the request was received (mail/internet/email), whether it was approved to be issued. If absentee, the date the ballot was mailed, and eventually, what date the clerk's office received the absentee ballot, to be counted on/about election day.
NORMAL CUSTODY CHAIN IN THESE NMSOS RECORDS
Date ballot requested (and ballot type)
Status of request (approved or rejected)
Date ballot mailed (if absentee)
Date ballot printed (if in person)
Date ballot cast (if in person)
Date ballot returned (if absentee) (Ballot bar code scanned to enter into the computer system)
THE PROBLEM OUTLINED IN THE REPORT RELATES ONLY TO ABSENTEE BALLOTS
CUSTODY CHAIN BROKEN IN 2022 GENERAL
Date absentee ballot requested (and source of request)
Status (absentee request approved or rejected)
Reason absentee ballot rejected (if rejected) (ballot not mailed)
Date absentee ballot mailed (if approved)
ENTIRE CHAIN OF CUSTODY /VOTER RECORD DELETED
Absentee ballot returned via mail, in person, or ballot drop box
Attempt to scan/enter the ballot into the records FAILS because the computer system says the ballot was never issued.
PROBLEM - POTENTIAL ERRORS / OMISSIONS
During the election, as these ballots were returned, the person in the clerk's office responsible for scanning receipt of these ballots couldn't/didn't upload the receipt of the ballots in the NMSERVIS system (according to records received) because the record that the ballot had been issued was deleted. It is unknown what happened to the physical ballots returned. It is unknown if they were later hand counted, or if the clerk's office thought they were counterfeit, etc.
The county clerk should have been made aware of the situation by her staff as these ballots came in and couldn't be scanned.
The county clerk did not clear up the situation during the certification hearing, therefore, it is unknown if her staff reported any problems.
The county clerk's certification report potentially contains errors and omissions.
2 of 3 county commissioners voted to accept the certification report even though evidence was presented to them that the report MAY contain errors and omissions.
The county commissioners have a legal duty to not accept certification in the event they receive any information leading them to believe the report has errors or omissions - which is something I specifically addressed to them during the presentation of my report.
To be clear - the outcome of the election in Luna County based on this particular problem I'm making public would not have changed. The only thing that might have changed if these ballots were not counted (and I have no evidence suggesting they were not, at least not yet), is there may have been more votes for Democrat candidates than indicated, i.e. the Republican candidates would have won by a smaller margin and possibly triggered more automatic recounts.
It is my opinion that the election results should not have been certified until the commissioners learned what happened with these BALLOTS ISSUED that were DELETED from the system. It could have been cleared up pretty quickly.
As part of post election reconciliation process, the county clerk's office has to account for every ballot issued. 32 ballots were issued and mailed to voters, and then the record of these ballots having been issued/mailed was deleted.
Luna County Commissioners voted to certify the election in a split decision. Commissioners Linda Smrkovsky (District 2) and John Sweetser (District 3) voted to certify, and Commissioner Barbara Reedy (District 1) voted against certification. Commissioner Reedy stated that she felt the Commissioners needed to clarify the issues before certification. (See attached .pdf from NMSOS office.)
Sincerely,
Leslie Bronken
Deming, NM