NewMexicoMatters.com

Press Release: Republican Party Requests More Voting Booths

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                      CONTACT JONAH COHEN NOVEMBER 6, 2006                                      505-298-3662

Republican Party Requests More Voting Booths Long lines on a Election Day Worry Senior Citizens 

(Albuquerque, NM) – As a result of the burdensome lines that many voters experienced at several Early Voting locations, the chairman of the Republican Party, Allen Weh, sent a letter today to Jaime Diaz, the Bernalillo County elections coordinator. In the letter, Chairman Weh requested a written commitment that extra voting booths will be provided on Election Day in Bernalillo County polling places, and that chairs will be offered at “all voting locations in sufficient numbers to accommodate those voters who through age or disability are unable to stand in a queue for the time it may take for them to vote.”             . “Without such assurances,” the letter goes on, “the Republican Party will be required to pursue other remedies through the court system.”   Pasted below is a copy of the letter: Dear Mr. Diaz, Due to reports of long lines at Early Voting locations – some as long as 3 hours - I write to respectfully request a written commitment that your office will provide extra voting booths on Election Day in Bernalillo County precincts where more than 75 voters are in line to vote. We also request that chairs be provided at all voting locations in sufficient numbers to accommodate those voters who through age or disability are unable to stand in a queue for the time it may take for them to vote.                                 The long lines during Early Voting discouraged voters, especially senior citizens, from casting a ballot. We are concerned that lack of adequate voting booths may result in long lines on Election Day and may discourage many voters from casting a ballot. I understand that Bernalillo County has an additional 200 voting booths and the Secretary of State has offered more. We request that you make every      effort to dispatch the additional voting booths to polling places prior to Election Day November 7, 2006. We ask particularly that these additional voting booths be allocated equally between majority Democratic and majority Republican districts. Again, we request a written commitment that your office will provide extra voting booths on Election Day in Bernalillo County polling places. Without such assurances, the Republican Party will be required to pursue other remedies through the court system.  Sincerely, Allen E. Weh Chairman

Going Negative on Lyons

In an election cycle dominated by negative campaigning, we've endured a bruising 8 month assault on our civic moral and pride. After all, the ads were designed by the parties mobilize their base by in part demoralizing the base of the opposition to the point they become unmotivated voters less likely to cast a ballot.

Jim Baca understands this. That's why he refused to engage in the politics of personal destruction, regardless of the provication by his opponent. However, that hasn't stopped Pat Lyons, who surged 7 points in the most recent Abq Journal poll, due partly to an effective negative / compare/contras ad by Lyons which Baca decided not to hit back on.

However, in the case of Pat Lyons, when the negative is true and accurate, it's also called reality.

Therefore, as a proponent of reality driven decision making, I put together a series of clips one should read before casting their vote Pat Lyons.

The Facts on Lyons:

• Pat Lyons;; On ignoring environmental watchdog groups for the good of the children. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpxuH7-_PGI

• Opposed drive up liquor window ban.

• Chaired Bush / Cheney 04 campaign in New Mexico. http://www.lyonswatch.com/Truth Squad Article.htm

• Over 90% of Lyons’ campaign contributions come from people who do business with his office. http://freenewmexican.com/news/50065.html
http://www.lyonswatch.com/Oil and Gas Contributors.htm

• Warned New Mexicans not to vote for Baca because the BLM and the Bush administration wouldn’t work with a Democrat. http://freenewmexican.com/news/49682.html

• Lyons claims says he wants to maximize revenue from state lands to benefit New Mexico school children, but in 2003 Lyons opposed legislation that increased distributions from the permanent fund to public schools and other institutions. http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/495671nm09-24-06.htm

• Lyons’ $1.5 Billion Deal With a Crook http://www.abqjournal.com/north/489350north_news09-02-06.htm
• Lyons proposed a total control lease in the Luera Peak area north of the Gila Wilderness that would have permitted a single individual the right to lock up the area, keeping most hunters out. Scores of average sportsmen would have been denied access to the prime hunting area if the deal had gone through. It was only because of a few watchful New Mexico Sportsmen that this deal was cancelled."

• There’s a simple reason why the incumbent Republican land commissioner has an overwhelming advantage over Baca in campaign contributions, and it’s the same issue that Al Gore’s Inconvenient Truth deals with: Big Oil doesn’t want someone like Baca in office because he’s serious about protecting the environment … and they aren’t . --Jerry Ortiz y Pino

• State Land Commissioner Patrick Lyons intervened in a lawsuit on behalf of a Valencia County landowner who gave political contributions to Lyons before, during and immediately after the court fight. http://freenewmexican.com/news/48130.html

• Pat Lyons featured children in campaign commercials without first seeking the permission of their parents by allow the principal of the school in which the commercial was shot to believe it was a promotional video for education in New Mexico and not a partisan campaign commercial. http://www.abqtrib.com/news/2006/oct/27/parents-object-lyons-tv-ad/

• Pat Lyons’ “sweetheart” no-bid land deal for campaign contributors. http://www.freenewmexican.com/news/47629.html

• Time and again, Lyons has put the interests of the developers and profits ahead of communities and resources. See Moon Mountain development. http://www.abqjournal.com/news/state/478209nm07-23-06.htm

• White Peaks: Pat Lyons attempted to give a campaign contributor the ability to lock up one of the premiere elk hunting spots in New Mexico.

• Lyons claims to be a proponent of renewable energy but it’s all a sham. http://www.dukecityfix.com/index.php?itemid=2042

• Tax Payer Funded TV ads Raise Questions; Execs: spots look like campaigns. http://www.backchannelmedia.com/articles/3076

• Pat Lyons and Big Oil: Thick as Thieves. http://freenewmexican.com/news/50130.html

• The environmental issues at stake. http://freenewmexican.com/news/49561.html

• Land Commissioner Buys Truck with Campaign Funds http://www.lyonswatch.com/Truck Article - AP - May 10, 2006.htm

Technorati Tags: Blogs, Democrats, education, Elections, Energy, Gas, GOP, Land Commissioner, media, New Mexico, news, oil, Politics, Republicans

5 Reasons to Vote for Jim Baca

1) Initiated the Mesa del Sol project 20 years ago, he is a man of vision

2) Appointed by President Clinton, Director of the Bureau of Land Management.

3) Restructured grazing leases to protect fragile grass lands from overgrazing.

4) Pledged to protect our rights to public lands and not just those of Oil and Gas companies.

5) Audited big oil and gas companies to make sure they paid their fair share and New Mexico's kids got funding for their education.

Save Jim Baca!

Anybody concerned about over drilling and over exploitation of New Mexico's fragile ecosystem and natural resources has plenty of reason to worry this morning. According to polling conducted for the AbqJournal by Research & Polling, the final sampling of voters' opinions before election day showed incumbent Land Commissioner, Republican Patrick Lyons, has taken a 7 point lead in the polls, an 11 point surge from the Journal's poll at the beginning of October which had Lyons trailing Baca by 4% points.

Lyons's surge in the polls can be attributed to effective television ads touting the incumbent's accomplishments as Land Commissioner while going negative on Baca, who has been unable to respond with TV spots of his own. Baca has however, spent significantly on radio in the north but it's his lack of presence on TV in the AbqMetro area that more than likely has resulted in Lyons getting his edge.

But at the end of the day, what matters is that we move forward from here and use what remaining time we have to prove the polls wrong. What can we do? Hmmm. I don't know.

Things that could help:

• How about a last minute commercial where Jim Baca and Bill Richardson drink milk together and Richardson endorses Jim Baca on TV. I'm sure the Richardson folks already have the commercial in the can and just need to swap it out with the "Pat yourself on the back and have a glass of milk ad." Right?

• What about web advertising? what if we buy ads on the New Mexican, AbqJournal and the Las Cruces Sun Times?

The fact of the matter is that a surge is afoot, voters will be coming out in unprecedented numbers this year because we're thirsty for change and want to make sure that there's world to leave to future generations. The more people learn about Pat Lyons, the more they support voters Baca. The challenge is to get the message out. The candidates are on sweep of the state right now, riding the Victory Whistle Stop Tour Don't count Baca out. Get on the train. Baca for Land Commissioner!

Technorati Tags: Democrats, Elections, Energy, Gas, GOP, Land Commissioner, New Mexico, oil, Patrick Lyons, Politics, Republicans

The Right Guy For The Job

If there was one candidate during this entire political season that I was really impressed by, it was David Bacon, the Green Party Candidate for PRC District 4.

Bacon spoke at a League of Women Voters candidate forum in Eldorado a couple of weeks ago and I had the privlidge of hearing him talk. First off, David's opponent--a Democrat, didn't even bother to show up, which probably was a good idea because when Bacon stood up to give his introductory remarks, it was as if the rest of the candidates on stage, those running for various offices on either the Democratic or Republican ticket, by comparison had been from the remedial candidate class.

When Bacon spoke, i realized there was something different about this guy, and then it hit me, he knew what he was talking about and what he was saying he wanted to do seemed like good ideas and realistic. For instance, Bacon has already begun making his presence felt, calling on the Secretary of State to conduct a random audit of 2% random audit of machines used to tally the results in Tuesday's election, saying:

But without the audit, we have no way of knowing that the new scanners and tabulators are any more reliable than the machines they are replacing. The law authorizing the switch to an all paper system is insufficient in itself to assure voters that their votes will be counted accurately. An audit is a necessary final step to demonstrate the reliability of the new system.

Honestly, I think that might be the first sane, relevant, accurate and all around good idea that I've heard come out of a New Mexico politicians that actually reflects an understanding of electronic voting problems.

As I Democrat, I wish we had more candidates in our party like David Bacon. But since we don't, I will gladly cross party lines and vote for the best qualified individual for the job.

Technorati Tags: Elections, Energy, Gas, media, New Mexico, news, oil, Politics, reform

Court halts release of Cheney visitor logs

NMU (11/03/2006): Court halts release of Cheney visitor logs:
Nov. 3, 2006 · A federal appeals court in Washington, D.C., has suspended a ruling that ordered the Secret Service to release or offer justification for withholding information about two years of visitors to Vice President Dick Cheney.

The decision comes two weeks after U.S. District Judge Ricardo M. Urbina ordered prompt disclosure of the logs of visitors to Cheney's office and home, which The Washington Post requested through the Freedom of Information Act in June. Urbina also ordered the release of visitor logs for 12 of Cheney's senior staff members.

Urbina gave the Secret Service until the end of last week to produce the logs or to provide a detailed document index and written justification if the agency continued to withhold the logs.
The appeals judges ñ Karen Henderson, David Sentelle, and David Tatel ñ said the government "satisfied the stringent standards required for a stay," according to the order. They did not elaborate.

Technorati Tags: corruption, Elections, Gas, George W. Bush, GOP, lobbying, oil, Politics, reform, Republicans

Democrats Predict Voter ID Problems - washingtonpost.com

Link: Democrats Predict Voter ID Problems - washingtonpost.com.

On Indiana's primary day, Rep. Julia Carson shoved her congressional identification card in a pocket, ran out of her house and raced down the street to be at her polling site when it opened at 6 a.m. The Democrat, seeking to represent Indianapolis for a sixth term, showed the card to a poll worker, who told her it was unacceptable under a new state law that requires every voter to show proof of identity.

CD 1: Dems lead in early voting

In CD 1, the ground war has been underway for weeks already. Here's my 2nd update.

Voter Alert Line

Check out the Voter Alert Line at MSNBC. The site is tracking vote problems nationwide.

Technorati Tags: Elections

Early & Absentee Vote Tracking For CD 1 shows Dems ahead

Here are the numbers I have going into the final stretch. I'll have a few more updates before Tuesday.

Technorati Tags: Democrats, Elections, New Mexico, Patricia Madrid, Politics, Republicans