Sandoval County hearing accepts one cured absentee ballot, confirms rejection of a provisional ballot

Michael Eshelman, Sandoval County Attorney, presided as hearing officer for a Sandoval County Clerk proceeding on Jan. 21 to address rejected absentee and provisional ballots. He directed county election staff to tabulate one absentee ballot that had been cured and confirmed the rejection of a provisional ballot.

Tina Dominguez, director of elections for the Sandoval County Clerk, told the hearing that the county had mailed notices "pursuant to state statutes" to voters whose absentee ballots were rejected for reasons such as missing signatures or incomplete Social Security information, and offered them an opportunity to cure. "We sent out letters pursuant to state statutes to any ballots that were rejected because they didn't complete their ballot as they should have," Dominguez said.

Eshelman said the county had 35 rejected absentee ballots. One voter, identified in the record as Dennis Inyart Tucker, submitted a timely cure form correcting an issue with the Social Security number on his absentee ballot envelope; Eshelman instructed the County Clerk to tabulate Tucker's absentee ballot. The hearing record shows that two provisional ballots were cast in the election; one had been previously accepted, and the provisional ballot of Dennis Lynn Pilgrim was rejected because Pilgrim had already returned an absentee ballot.

No members of the public attended the proceeding; only county staff were present. Eshelman adjourned the hearing at 1:35 p.m.

The county cited state statutory and administrative code authority for the cure procedure during the hearing. The proceeding provided the final administrative opportunity for affected voters to correct deficiencies in absentee or provisional ballots so the ballots could be accepted and counted.