The greatest obstacle to any candidate seeking a recount in New Mexico is the cost. According to NMSA 1-14-15. Recounts; rechecks; cost of proceedings.
A. An applicant for a recount shall deposit with the proper canvassing board or, in the case of an office for which the state canvassing board issues a certificate of nomination or election, with the secretary of state fifty dollars ($50.00) in cash, or a sufficient surety bond in an amount equal to fifty dollars ($50.00), for each precinct for which a recount is demanded. An applicant for a recheck shall deposit with the proper canvassing board or, in the case of an office for which the state canvassing board issues a certificate of nomination or election, with the secretary of state ten dollars ($10.00) in cash, or a sufficient surety bond in an amount equal to ten dollars ($10.00), for each voting machine to be rechecked.
B. The deposit or surety bond shall be security for the payment of the costs and expenses of the recount or recheck in case the results of the recount or recheck are not sufficient to change the results of the election.
C. If it appears that error or fraud sufficient to change the winner of the election has been committed, the costs and expenses of the recount or recheck shall be paid by the state upon warrant issued by the secretary of finance and administration supported by a voucher of the secretary of state, or shall be paid by the county upon warrant of the county clerk from the general fund of the county, as the case may be.
D. If no error or fraud appears to be sufficient to change the winner, the costs and expenses for the recount or recheck shall be paid by the applicant. Costs shall consist of any docket fees, mileage of the sheriff in serving summons and fees and mileage of precinct board members, at the same rates allowed witnesses in civil actions. If error or fraud has been committed by a precinct board, they shall not be entitled to such mileage or fees.
So right now, the calculation for the Madrid campaign is:
number of precincts they want included in a recount X ($50 per precinct + $10 per voting machine) = Security Deposit for a recount.
If the Madrid camp goes for a full recount, that would mean approximately 600 precincts in CD 1 X ($50 per precinct + $10 per voting machine) = $36,000 Security Deposit due at the time the request is filed.
However, calculating the total cost of the recount is much more difficult because of the section D, which essentially says that if the recount doesn't change the outcome of the election the challenger is on the hook for the entire cost.
How much would that cost all together?
SOS elect, Mary Herrera put the cost in Bernalillo at $35,000 where there are about 438 precincts, putting the cost per precinct at roughly $80. If that cost were applied to the remaining 162 precincts in CD 1, the total cost could be roughly $48,000, which all in all is pretty low cost.
But, according to the State's Bureau of Elections Director, Ernie Marquez, the cost is also determined by the specifications of the recount requested by the challenger.
So if Madrid goes for a full manual recount of all ballots cast in CD 1 both early and absentee, which would mean an across the board paper trail audit, the cost could be much higher. How much higher would depend on the amount of time needed to conduct the recount, but one estimate given to me by an election expert said the high-end cost could be as much as $700 per precinct, which would put the total cost of the recount at about $420,000.
That it. A total confirmation of the vote would cost somewhere between $50,000 and $450,000, which I'm guessing would include the $36,000 security deposit.
Technorati Tags: Bernalillo, Elections, NM, puppy
Is this for looking at only one race per ballot, or the whole ballot? If they're only looking at the one race, it should go very quickly -- sort them into two piles.
Posted by: Michelle Meaders | Tuesday, November 21, 2006 at 08:49 PM