Commentary: SANTA FE – New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver released the following statement in response to the establishment of the Presidential Advisory Commission on Election Integrity:
“If President Trump truly wants to boost Americans’ confidence in the integrity of our elections, he should stop making false claims of rampant voter fraud. President Trump’s voter fraud allegations are simply not true and they are doing real damage to our democracy. I fear that Trump’s Commission will be nothing more than a Trojan Horse used to justify partisan efforts making it harder to vote.
“As Bernalillo County Clerk for ten years, and now as Secretary of State, I’m intimately aware of the challenges of running fair and accurate elections. Voter fraud in New Mexico is extremely rare, and every time I’ve discovered it I’ve swiftly referred it to law enforcement for prosecution.
“Over the last twelve years, New Mexicans have unfortunately endured multiple partisan witch hunts intended to root out alleged rampant voter fraud, but none of them turned up any evidence of widespread or systemic fraud.
Common Cause and The League of Women Voters – both non-partisan organizations – have announced their strong opposition to President Trump’s Commission. Common Cause referred to the Commission as a sham and an attempt to distract the public. The League of Women Voters called the Commission an unnecessary distraction from the real work to protect against foreign hacking and interference in our electoral process.