On Nov. 15, the Sandoval County Commission, acting as the Election Canvassing Board, approved the certification of the General Election results with a vote of 4-1. The decision was made despite errors that resulted in noncompliance of two state statutes due to delays in reporting and the disqualification of 117 provisional ballots.
During the canvassing, Sandoval County Chief Deputy Clerk Joey Dominguez presented the Bureau of Elections report to certify the election results and acknowledged mistakes during the election process, including his own, attributing the errors to serious staff shortages and fatigue from extended work hours.
Commissioner Jay Block was the sole opposing vote, expressing concerns about the errors and compliance with regulations, but he did support the election bureau and the staff.
“Joey, your integrity through this whole process has really been spectacular. So you need to hold your head up high,” Block said. “I am not going to vote to certify the election because, as the attorney mentioned, we didn’t meet the state statute. You agree with that as well, but I want to applaud you [the election staff], all of you, for the effort that you guys have done for this election.”
Dominguez pledged to provide a comprehensive analysis of the issues of the election at an upcoming meeting. He called for a review of staffing levels and pay within the clerk’s office to help prevent similar problems in future elections.
The county failed to comply with two state statutes. First, it did not report election night results by precinct, including total votes for each candidate or question, as required. Instead, results were categorized by voting method. Second, the county clerk failed to meet the legal obligation to report precinct vote totals to the Secretary of State on election night.
Election Day errors included failing to upload results from one precinct after a poll worker mishandled a tabulator memory card, corrupting the data. Additionally, two early voting tabulators were deployed without proper seals and 32 provisional ballots were disqualified due to improper handling by the absentee board.
“I take ownership of this mistake because I created a guidance similar to how we’ve created a guide for everything,” Dominguez said. “A checklist that allows it to always ensure accountability.”
According to Dominguez, of the 79,894 votes counted in Sandoval County, 316 were disqualified outright due to issues such as incomplete same-day registration (SDR) processes or missing information on ballot envelopes.
The total votes included 380 overseas voters, 51,965 early voting ballots, 16,668 Election Day ballots, 10,751 absentee ballots, and 427 provisional ballots.
The most significant issue was the mishandling of 149 provisional ballots.
Dominguez admitted to providing incorrect instructions to the absentee board, causing ballots to be separated from their envelopes. This breach of protocol violated the chain of custody, making it impossible to verify or challenge individual votes. Consequently, all 149 ballots were disqualified.
Additionally, 32 were missing required information necessary to execute the document, such as a signature, the last four digits of a Social Security number, or a response to the citizenship question.
According to Dominguez, those have been properly labeled on the provisional ballot register.
“So you took the documentation that identified who the voter was of that 32 and you disqualified them based on their faulty submission?” Sandoval County Chair David Heil asked Dominguez. “Now you have 117 [disqualified voters] that you are communicating with, to say, ‘You have an opportunity to appeal the decision of the County Bureau of Elections Board,’ correct?”
“Correct,” Dominguez said. “The ones that are disqualified if you didn’t answer your Social Security or your citizenship question, I’m not going to say you’re a citizen and assume you’re a citizen. You have an obligation to complete it.”
Block asked Dominguez how the county ensures voter citizenship status, noting, “You don’t verify citizenship, correct? It’s just a trust thing that we trust them?”
“It is a matter of trust,” Dominguez said, explaining that the Same-Day Registration system syncs with Motor Vehicle Department databases, categorizing individuals as confirmed citizens, noncitizens or those with questionable status.
Other procedural and systemic errors were identified and addressed during the election process.
According to Dominguez, a critical error occurred at the Community of Joy Lutheran Church voter convenience center when poll workers improperly shut down the tabulator before removing the compact flash (CF) card, corrupting it and preventing the upload of 515 votes on election night.
Election officials resolved the issue by retrieving the results from a backup card, which matched the Election Day results tapes exactly. The process was conducted under the observation of the county manager, county attorney, and representatives from both political parties, including the New Mexico Republican Party’s executive director and attorney.
Two early voting tabulators were deployed without proper seals after testing, violating the county’s standard operating procedures. At another location, printing errors occurred due to power issues caused by kitchen appliances overloading the circuit that powered election equipment. These issues required the deployment of spare machines and caused delays for voters, though no ballots were mishandled.
At Rio Rancho Elementary School, a voter left with their completed ballot and permit. Protocols dictate the ballot should have been spoiled and reported but was overlooked. Some voters received incorrect precinct ballots, prompting a review of provisional ballots, which uncovered an issue with envelope separation.
According to Dominguez, the errors resulted in part from a shortage of staff and long work hours, which led to fatigue and mistakes.
“I hope that the next commission really focuses on not overwhelming your staff,” Dominguez said. “I probably have not had a day off in four weeks now, working Saturday and Sunday. It is exhausting and mistakes happen, but I’ll always own up when mistakes happen.”
He said his team processed over 1,700 SDRs on Election Day and it strained the office and the polling sites.
“I may have a lot of people disagree with me but I don’t think it should be live on election day,” he said.
The commissioners all agreed that Dominguez did a good job despite being shorthanded.
“The real sign of leadership is adjusting to these obstacles and acknowledging the failures in the system, and yet still allowing every voter to have their say, even if 149 of them have to go to court,” Commissioner Michael Meek said.
Anne Brady-Romero, the county clerk, showed appreciation to her deputy clerk.
“I fought to hire Joey, and it worked out and he is an exceptional employee,” Brady-Romero said. “I do not feel that he is compensated or any of the staff, but Joey in particular, I want to up his income. He’s worth it. He is not paid the salary that every other class-A county chief deputy makes and I would like to see that remedied.”