COUNTY News:

• Board of Registration reviews list of inactive voters for removal

The Los Alamos County Board of Registration (the board) met Tuesday, March 7, 2017, to review the list of inactive voters (748) to ascertain whether they meet the criteria to be purged from the voter rolls.

The list of voters was compiled through efforts of the New Mexico Secretary of State (NM SOS) and the federal National Voter Registration Act of 1993, (NVRA). The board, consisting of George Chandler, Jess Cullinan and James N. Robinson, were appointed Feb. 14 by the Los Alamos County Council.

In order to be eligible for removal from the voter rolls, the following criteria shall be met:

• The registrant was mailed a confirmation mailing in August 2014;
• The registrant is currently in “Inactive” status;
• The registrant has not updated his or her registration address since being mailed the August 2014 confirmation mailing; and
• The registrant has not voted in any election since being mailed the August 2014 confirmation mailing.

The board spot-checked names on the inactive list and verified those names did indeed meet the criteria outlined above, thus, directing the County Clerk to cancel the registration of 748 voters from the Los Alamos County voter rolls.

“We determined that the persons purged from the list were properly identified and met all the criteria for removal. This was facilitated by the careful record-keeping and skillful analysis by the  County Clerk and her staff and the Secretary of State,” Chandler said.

Cullinan said, “Keeping our voter rolls up to date is so important, and our Clerk’s Office does an outstanding job ensuring that all those who are eligible to vote in our County have the opportunity to do so. Having seen firsthand the efforts this excellent staff go through to track down voters with updated information when election mail is returned, I have no doubt that our records are among the most accurate in all of New Mexico. I’m confident in the efforts of this board to follow the state-mandated process for removing voter records for those who have moved or died, and grateful for the able assistance of our Clerk and Elections Manager.”

Robinson added, “I was very happy to be able to participate in this process. I found it amazing how much attention every voting record gets, and the process put in place to ultimately clean up our lists. The Clerk’s Office continues to be amazing and I think Los Alamos is lucky to have diligent staff working our elections. I also liked that although we came from different parties, our group was able to come together, decide on a process and then work together to validate the purge list. “

“I appreciate the time and diligent dedication the Board spent during the purge process ensuring that our voter rolls were accurate and in proper order. Los Alamos is very fortunate to have these involved community members who are to be commended for adhering to the guidelines and procedures prescribed by the Secretary of State Office.” said Clerk Naomi Maestas.

The County Clerk has submitted the board’s final report to the NM SOS, as required. Clerk Maestas would like to remind residents who are not registered, have moved, or changed their mailing address, to complete a voter registration form in the County Clerk’s Office at 1000 Central Ave., 2nd Floor,  Suite 240 or through the NM Secretary of State Voter Registration Portal www.sos.state.nm.us. For more information, contact the Clerk’s Office at 505.662.8010, by email at clerks@lacnm.us.