New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver (D) asked the state’s Supreme Court to force the GOP-controlled Otero County Commission to certify the primary election results on Tuesday.
Toulouse Oliver’s emergency petition to the court came a day after all three members of the commission – which includes “Cowboys For Trump” leader Couy Griffin – voted against certifying the results on the basis of MAGA conspiracy theories about Dominion voting machines. The commission didn’t provide any evidence of the machines corrupting the elections, which were held on June 7.
“The post-election canvassing process is a key component of how we maintain our high levels of election integrity in New Mexico and the Otero County Commission is flaunting that process by appeasing unfounded conspiracy theories and potentially nullifying the votes of every Otero County voter who participated in the primary,” Toulouse Oliver said as she was announcing her emergency petition on Tuesday.
The secretary of state also noted that in addition to refusing to certify the election results, the Otero County commission also voted last week to stop using ballot drop boxes and the state’s voting machines despite having no legal authority to do so.
Toulouse Oliver warned that her office was preparing a criminal referral to the New Mexico attorney general’s office on “these willful violations of the Election Code by county officers and their willful failure or refusal to perform their duties under the Election Code.”
The Otero commission is notorious for its efforts to help ex-President Donald Trump undermine the legitimacy of the elections process and falsely claim the 2020 election was stolen.
The commission attempted to do a sham “forensic audit” of the 2022 election results, though its contract with the auditor was ultimately cancelled – but not before the House Oversight Committee opened an investigation into the fake audit.
Additionally, Griffin was found guilty of trespassing on Capitol grounds during the Jan. 6 insurrection.
Read Toulouse Oliver’s emergency petition below:
