Q & A
NMET Network welcomes questions about our organization and our philosophy. The basis for our philosophy comes from the word of God, the U.S. and New Mexico Constitutions. We are excited to post questions and answers to help people understand our philosophy and guide conversations to help us all come to a common understanding and work towards unity.
5/20/23 Q – “I am a New Mexico resident and registered voter. I would like to understand why your organization is opposed to measures such as mail-in ballots and early voting that make it easier for people to vote. My daughter has been a registered voter all of her adult life in Oregon. Their state has a Vote by Mail system and it works well. Over 70% of registered voters cast ballots in the 2020 election with no outcry of election fraud. We need to be working on increasing the number of New Mexicans who vote, rather than preventing citizens from voting.”
5/21/23 A – “Thank you very much for contacting New Mexico Election Transparency Network. We appreciate all of the citizens in New Mexico who have chosen to participate in the voting process. Everyone on the board is proud to say we are committed to participating in the process as well. We also want to thank you for taking the time to ask questions about our stance. We support any efforts that make it both easy and secure to vote.
Oregon is a beautiful state and their voters have been voting by mail since 1998. They have had some of the highest voter responses in the nation . Voting by mail is important for military members that are overseas, people that are disabled, students who are going to school out of state and people who have to travel for business or other issues.Unfortunately for Oregon, there has been flight from Portland due to crime and public policy. This year there have been more people leave Oregon than moved in for the first time since 1980. They currently have 12 counties that have voted to succeed from the state and join Idaho. Why? Public policy. Who makes public policy? Elected and appointed officials.
Elections are the cornerstone of our Democratic Republic. It is a right that is guaranteed in the U.S. and all State Constitutions. NMET Network has spent countless hours encouraging all New Mexican’s to vote. When we engage prospective voters and people who are registered to vote and discuss going to the polls, they don’t tell us they don’t vote because it is inconvenient. They know they can get an absentee ballot without having to supply an excuse. They tell us they don’t trust the system. Many of them have stories about going to vote and someone has already voted for them. There are poll workers that report being told to stop verifying voter signatures on absentee ballots. The machines stop working even though they have been tested. I have attached a handout with some information of election by mail for your consideration.
Voting early is definitely a convenience many people take advantage of. This too can have problems associated with it. It costs the counties and states a lot of money to pay for extra poll workers, rent on buildings, additional internet etc. There have also been concerns about issues that can arise because of early voting. I have attached one resource on early voting for you to review.
Our goal is secure and transparent elections and we are excited to work with New Mexican’s on making that happen. Thank you for helping us articulate our message.”
NMET Network.
5/21/23 Q -“Thank you for your response and for the handouts. I don’t think it’s fair to associate voting by mail in Oregon with problems of crime and public policy that are causing people to leave Portland. Don’t we have even more people who are leaving New Mexico? Don’t we in New Mexico have even more problems with crime and poverty and homelessness and school failures and lack of access to health care?
My experiences as a poll worker and talking to acquaintances about voting seem to be the opposite of yours. I have never heard of anyone who says they went to vote and someone had already voted for them. The reasons I have been given for why someone didn’t vote is not because they didn’t trust the election process. It was because they just didn’t want to be bothered. Many don’t even know that we have Voter Convenience Centers and cross-voting so that they can vote anywhere in their county and are not limited to voting in their precinct.
In answer to the information on the handouts I would encourage you to read this page: https://www.sos.nm.gov/voting-and-elections/voter-information-portal-nmvote-org/rumor-vs-reality/. Also, I think it’s very helpful for anyone who thinks there is fraud and abuse in our current voting system to take the training and to participate as a poll worker. Then you can see firsthand that there are good people working hard to ensure that every vote counts and there are not nefarious criminals hiding everywhere trying to steal votes.”
5/25/23 A -“Thank you for working at the polls. That is a very important job and it is so vital to our election system. We are aware of New Mexico’s dismal rankings in most of the important public indicators. That goes back to bad public policy and that goes back to those that are elected.
We are also thankful that you have had all good experiences while working at the polls. Unfortunately not all poll workers and challengers have the same stories. We have worked closely with people who do the training and who worked in many capacities within the polling locations. Apparently there are some places that have issues and some that do not. Through IPRA requests, we have obtained incident reports from polling places all over the state showing there are significant issues in some polling locations that need addressed. Our hope is that we bring continued awareness that all systems need to strive to improve.
We also appreciate your knowledge about the sos website. It is very important residents learn about their government and how to find information on each of their websites.
We are aware of the page you linked and actually have written opposition to many of the alleged misinformation and disinformation statements. It is a shame that you have encountered people who are so apathetic they didn’t want to be bothered. Hopefully we can all work together to get those people engaged in the process.
We do believe those working at the polls are there because they believe in and support the constitutional right of every American citizen to vote. They are not only good people but some of the best people because they care enough to get involved. New Mexico Transparency Network has never stated there were nefarious criminals hiding everywhere trying to steal votes, that is your statement. We advocate for secure and transparent elections. That means people can see the whole process, participate in the whole process and have a true audit of the process.
We appreciate your time and dialog. Hopefully there will always be more that brings us together than pulls us apart. Our philosophy is based on the principle that truth is a powerful force that overcomes all.”
Sincerely,
NMET Network