How are we responding when our electoral process must adapt and face the challenges of threats and intimidation?
Here’s some tough truth. We’ve had death threats at our Santa Fe County Clerk’s office. Staff have reported being followed and feeling unsafe. Compounding this danger, the FBI has warned us that our election staff is in danger of exposure to deadly fentanyl sent through the mail. Our office will now have to keep Narcan on hand in case of that exposure.
Despite these security concerns in this new reality, I take pride in the unwavering dedication of my staff to serving Santa Fe County, day in and day out. Our resolve remains steadfast as we navigate the balance between facilitating access to our office and safeguarding the integrity of our elections, all the while prioritizing the safety and well-being of our team.
We maintain a badged area to keep ballots and staff secure. We initiated the same security measures in our office that our Secretary of State requires in our election warehouse.
Santa Fe is the first county in New Mexico to use GPS tracking for chain of custody and ballot transport. This ensures that ballots don't leave their designated routes during travel.
Ballots are no longer left at polling sites overnight as they were in the past administration. In this era, we cannot afford to leave ballots with the tabulators and ensure they are stored under additional security.
We have introduced a tabulator security program and anti-tampering measures for our equipment. Tabulators cannot be lost or abandoned in a vehicle on the side of the road, which happened on the previous Administration's watch.
Our absentee ballot processing location has guards and armed security on patrol, ensuring there is no interference with ballot processing.
We borrowed from emergency management best practice and instituted a centralized command center during elections to ensure fast response to problems and emergent incidents.
We were the first clerk's office to introduce drop boxes which are monitored under 24 hour security cameras. We have more per capita than anywhere else in New Mexico.
We’ve implemented emergency response and evacuation plans for our staff.
To ensure that our elections and county operations aren’t compromised, all staff now take active shooter and cybersecurity training.
Based on recommendations from county management, homeland security, and the Secretary of State, bullet proof glass will be installed in our office.
People who run free and uncompromised elections are our first line of defense when it comes to protecting our democracy. Even in these times which require a high level of vigilance, my team and I are committed to continue serving our community.
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