- A three-member GOP commission in New Mexico is refusing to certify primary election results.
- They cited vague concerns about the Dominion vote tabulating machines used in the election.
- New Mexico's secretary of state has asked its Supreme Court to order them to recognize the votes.
A three-member GOP commission has refused to certify the results of the June 7 primary election in Otero County, New Mexico, prompting New Mexico's secretary of state to sue them in the state's Supreme Court.
Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, a Democrat, asked the court on Tuesday to order the county commission to recognize the votes, per the Associated Press.
The commission had on June 9 cited concerns with the Dominion vote-tabulating machines used in the election, though it didn't specify the exact issue, the outlet reported.
According to Alamogordo Daily News, the commission's members asked that all the ballots cast using Dominion machines be recounted manually and that all ballot drop boxes allowing for absentee voting be removed. Per the outlet, the commission also requested that the Dominion tabulators not be used until the November midterm elections.
These instructions have introduced a standoff that could delay the upcoming local general elections as the Republican county clerk responded by refusing to hand count the votes, per the AP. A court order is required for a manual recount to be conducted.
The commission's claims align with the baseless claims by some of former President Donald Trump's loyalists — such as MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell — that Dominion voting machines were used to steal the 2020 election from Trump. Lindell has falsely claimed that Dominion designed its machines to rig votes in a way that allowed Chinese and Iranian hackers to change the ballot count in favor of President Joe Biden.
"I have huge concerns with these voting machines," Vickie Marquardt, a member of the commission, said Monday, per the AP. "When I certify stuff that I don't know is right, I feel like I'm being dishonest because in my heart I don't know if it is right."
Trump won Otero County in 2020 with 62% of the vote, up from 58% in 2016. Yet the debunked claims of fraud persist, becoming an article of faith among some Republican voters.
Couy Griffin, a commission member and leader of the "Cowboys for Trump" group, said he raised his concerns about the Dominion machines because he was representing the "will of the people." No commissioner cited specific irregularities or other concerns.
Griffin was convicted in March of trespassing on restricted Capitol grounds during the January 6, 2021, riot. He is set to be sentenced on June 17 and faces up to a year in prison.
Dominion has launched defamation lawsuits against many of its detractors, including Lindell and Trump's former lawyer, Rudy Giuliani, for pushing disinformation theories about its machines.
In a statement provided to Insider, a spokesperson for the firm said the developments in Otero County were "yet another example of how lies about Dominion have damaged our company and diminished the public's faith in elections."
Oliver accused the Otero County commissioners of "flaunting" the state's efforts to ensure election integrity. She issued a statement accusing them of "appeasing unfounded conspiracy theories and potentially nullifying the votes of every Otero County voter who participated in the primary."
The refusal to certify election results comes after the county's political leaders commissioned a third-party "audit" of the 2020 election results that includes knocking on doors of voters. A congressional panel is investigating whether that effort amounts to voter intimidation.