News Clips

Mario Jimenez, a former election official in the state who now works as the campaign director for the New Mexico chapter of Common Cause, a watchdog group, noted New Mexico law makes it a criminal offense to knowingly violate election laws. “They were instructed by their county attorney on the things they can and cannot do … despite being notified by their own legal expert and this very experienced county clerk, they continue to wilfully break the law and not serve their community or their constituents.”

“It’s concerning to have people in positions of power who do not believe in the rule of law, which is what our entire system of democracy is based on,” said Sylvia Albert, director of voting and elections for the watchdog Common Cause. “Jim Marchant continues to say that he would not have certified the 2020 election. And he continues to say that President Biden did not win. Various courts — I think there were more than 60 lawsuits around the country — found that in fact President Biden did win.”

“Trump’s lies continued to stoke the anger of his staunchest supporters – anger that he would turn loose on the Capitol on January 6, in an effort to overturn the election he lost by force,” said Common Cause President Karen Hobert Flynn.

Mario Jimenez of the progressive watchdog group Common Cause New Mexico said the public can view testing of vote-tallying machines prior to elections in every county, and that certification notices are posted on every machine where voters can see them. “They have no basis — other than ‘we just don’t trust the machine’ — for not certifying the election,” Jimenez said of the Otero County commissioners.

The January 6, 2021, insurrection was much more than an attack on the U.S. Capitol, as dangerous and grotesque as it was. It was a direct result of a criminal conspiracy orchestrated by the Trump White House to overturn the legitimate results of the 2020 election and silence the voices of millions of Americans.

Sandy Ma, the executive director of the government watchdog group Common Cause Hawaii, welcomed the legislation but said it should be strengthened in the future to cover all organizations that spend on political campaigns, including corporations, unions and chambers of commerce. “If we want to shine a light on dark money spending, which we all do, especially Common Cause, we have to do it in a strategic way and cover everybody,” she said.