Doña Ana County Commissioners certify 2024 General Election results

The Doña Ana County Board of County Commissioners voted 4-0 to certify the 2024 primary election results Tuesday.

The Board held a special meeting on Friday as the County Canvassing Board.

Results remain unofficial until they are reviewed and certified by the State Canvassing Board on Nov. 26, 2024.

County Commissioner Diana Murillo was not present on Friday. Murillo was one of three commissioners who were on the ballot either in the June Primary or during the General Election.

Murillo lost her seat during the Primary Election while Commissioners Manuel Sanchez and Susana Chaparro were each re-election during the General Election.

“Having been on the ballot this year, I can empathize with a lot of the other candidates when you are hitting refresh and wanting to see results and be done at he end of Election Night, I know when it doesn’t happen, your patience can be tested,” Sanchez said. “For all of those who ran, thank you for running in the election, thank you for having patience in the process.”

62% of Doña Ana County voters cast a ballot

Chief Deputy County Clerk Caroline Zamora presented the results as County Clerk Amanda López Askin was a candidate in the General Election. López Askin defeated Republican Cheryl De Young, securing 56% of the 80,514 votes made in the race to earn a final term.

Zamora said the County Clerk’s office does not expect any recounts.

There were 85,509 total ballots cast in Doña Ana County in 2024, which was 61.65% of eligible voters. There were 48,864 county residents who voted early and 10,547 who voted by absentee ballot.

“We keep growing every time we have an election, we keep needing more people to serve and work the election for us,” Commissioner Shannon Reynolds said. “We can’t say thank you enough for the civil participation and the support we get from everyone in the county.”

By comparison, in 2020, there were 82,959 total ballots (64.42% of eligible voters) cast in Doña Ana County. There were 40,239 county residents who voted early and 27,806 who voted absentee during the pandemic, where just 14,908 residents voted on Election Day.

In 2016, there were 71,084 total ballots (62.45% of eligible voters) cast in Doña Ana County. There were 40,460 county residents who voted early, 3,456 who voted absentee and 27,168 residents voted on Election Day.

Statewide, there were 927,899 ballots cast (67.1% of eligible voters) in the 2024 General Election. In 2020, there were 928,230 total ballots cast in New Mexico, which represented a 68.67% voter turnout.

County details same day registration delays, incidents on Election Day

Zamora said voters experienced issues related to same day registration. According to Secretary of State’s office, more servers were brought online throughout the day to address the issue.

There were approximately 52,000 voters who utilized same day registration in the state and 25,000 on Election Day.

There were 4,826 total Doña Ana County residents who utilized same day registration – 2,132 during early voting and 2,694 on Election Day.

Zamora also outlined several incidents that took place at polling locations, as well as speaking out against cases of misinformation and disinformation related to the county’s post election night processes of counting absentee ballots.

“I greatly appreciate the staff and of course, (Zamora),” López Askin said. “To say she has stepped up to the plate is a huge understatement.”

Among the instances noted, Zamora said there was an election challenger who expressed dissatisfaction with the process and was ultimately removed from the City Hall location after addressing workers rather than the presiding judge.

Zamora noted incidents where election challengers, observers and watchers were either non-credentialed or improperly credentialed with one instance she described as intimidation that required the presence of the Doña Ana County Sheriff’s Office arriving and a 45-minute delay at a polling location.

At the Election Warehouse, Zamora said there were a handful of incidents, including a challenger/watcher who was asked “between four and six times” to stop taking photos, which is not allowed as an election challenger or watcher.

“Some of the incidents that (Zamora) highlighted, we know we live in a time where politics is hyper political at this point,” Sanchez said.

“I want to give a lot of credit to (López Askin) for working to build that pipeline and have workers come in and make sure they are trained properly and making sure they have more pay so you can attract more people.”

Jason Groves can be reached at 575-541-5459 or jgroves@lcsun-news.com. Follow him on X @jpgroves.

This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: County Commissioners certify 2024 General Election results

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