On October 20,2022, Larry Marker, Independent Write-in Candidate for Commissioner of Public Lands filed in Federal Court for a temporary restraining order against the State of New Mexico for use of uncertified voting machines.
So why is it important that our NM Dominion voting machines be certified? Voting machines have an integral role in ensuring the integrity of elections, and thus of protecting democracy. It’s important that they are operating as designed: Record citizens’ votes in a secure and accurate way. Voters must be confident their votes are being recorded as cast, that their privacy is being protected, and that the machine is tamper-proof. To provide this level of confidence, voting machines are tested against current standards before being used in an election.
On July 14, 2021, the Voting System Recertification Committee’s Report of Findings was made. On 8/4/2021 the NM Certification Committee finished the last certification. However, on
8/19/2021, *Toulouse-Oliver sent a letter to Dominion, saying that the NM machines were not certified to the latest VVSG (Voluntary Voting System Guidelines, adopted by the US Election Assistance Commission – EAC on February 10, 2021). Toulouse-Oliver checked as late as September 2022. To this day, no independent laboratory has been willing to certify NM voting systems to the latest standards. The voting systems, in fact, therefore, do not comply with NM Statutes that require certification to the latest standards and are therefore NOT certified.
Mr. Marker completed this filing while awaiting the New Mexico Supreme Court’s ruling on this matter (which was previously brought before them in a Writ of Mandamus).
The NM Supreme Court has failed to adjudicate Marker’s petition for Writ of Mandamus in a timely manner. It was filed on September 22, 2022. Marker’s petition states lawful reasons why the court should order the Secretary of State, Maggie Toulouse Oliver to remove the voting machines from use until fully and completely certified. At this time, they are certified ONLY to the prior standards.
A primary issue stated in the Writ is the fact that the machines are uncertified and inequitable. Marker has not asked the Federal Court to overrule the state, but rather to provide temporary relief until which time the NM State Supreme Court answers his petition.
