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NEW MEXICO
INCUMBENT: DIANNA DURAN (R) SEEKING RE-ELECTION

New Mexico Secretary of State: At-a-Glance
2014 Maggie Toulouse Oliver (D) Dianna Duran (R)*
Status Declared Challenger Declared Candidate
Total Raised (As of June, 2014) $254,285 $131,038
Cash on Hand (As of June, 2014) $123,878 $111,060
Latest Poll No polling available
2010 Mary Herrera (D) Dianna Duran (R)
Results 253,325 42.6% 341,915 57.4%
Total Raised $165,398 $203,660
*Incumbent
Sources: New Mexico Campaign Finance Information System and Elections Data, New Mexico Secretary of State,
accessed July 8, 2014; National Institute on Money in State Politics, accessed December 13, 2013.

New Mexico Media Markets
Market
2012 Q4 Political
CPP Persons 25+
2010 Herrera Performance
2010 SOS Vote
Share
Albuquerque-Santa Fe $144 42.3% 88.9%
El Paso $80 51.2% 7.9%
Amarillo $44 26.9% 3.1%
Statewide $268 42.6% 100.0%
Sources: Elections Data, New Mexico Secretary of State, accessed December 11, 2013 and Television Planning Guide,
MSR, 2012.

POWERS RELATED TO ELECTIONS AND VOTING
The Secretary of State is New Mexicos chief elections officer and oversees the election process.
Duties related to elections and voting include:
Maintaining a list of the state's registered voters
Testing and evaluating voting machines
Certifying precinct boundary maps
Regulating lobbyist activity
Oversees reporting of campaign finances by candidates and PACs, as well as financial
disclosure by candidates and state officials.
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1
Secretary of States Duties, New Mexico 2012 Blue Book, accessed March 7, 2013.
2
DIANNA DURAN (R) SEEKING RE-ELECTION
Dianna Duran, elected alongside Republican Governor Susanna
Martinez in 2010, is the first Republican to hold the office of secretary
of state in New Mexico since 1930.
2
Now she will be running for
reelection against Democrat and Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie
Toulouse Oliver.
3

Since being elected, Duran has made a number of changes to
election law and administration in the state and taken actions that
have angered Democrats. In one case, she reversed course on her
offices interpretation of a key campaign finance law that was
perceived as aiding Republican Gov. Susana Martinez.
4
While
Durans office advised some Democrats that campaigns could not
accept the maximum $5,000 per election (primary and general) at
one time, she later changed course, allowing Martinez to take in
$10,000 donations as long as the contributions were designated for
separate campaigns.
5
In 2012, Duran blocked the League of Women
Voters from distributing its voter guide at polling places and county
clerks offices. According to Durans office, the guides were banned
because they violated a 2011 law prohibiting electioneering within
100 feet of a polling place.
6
Duran also eliminated New Mexicos straight-ticket voting option before
the 2012 election. A bill to reinstate straight-ticket voting passed the New Mexico Senate with
Democratic support in March 2013
7
but did not advance.
8
In New Mexicos 2010 election, 23
percent of Democrats voted using a straight-ticket ballot compared to 18 percent of Republicans.
9

Over the last couple years, Durans office has failed to implement an effective Motor Voter
registration system. A 2009 lawsuit forced the New Mexico Secretary of States office to comply with
the National Voting Rights Act and allow New Mexicans to register while renewing their drivers
licenses. However, ProgressNow New Mexico found that voters are not able to register at the DMV,
instead, they are given instructions to complete registration on their own. Attempts to automate the
process at the DMV have failed, and some offices that are supposed to have online voter registration
kiosks do not have them available. All this has resulted in a 90% drop in registrations per month at
DMVs in Bernalillo County.
10,11

Other actions undertaken by Durans office include the pursuit of alleged non-citizens
12
and a purge
of the voter roll using a postcard program in which postcards were sent to 177,768 addresses
suspected by the Postal Service and county clerks to be inaccurate. Voters whose cards were
returned as undeliverable or who did not return their card with a current address and did not vote in
the 2014 election would be purged from the states voter rolls in 2015.
13
The voter purge has been
halted by complaints from progressive groups including ProgressNow New Mexico.
14
ProgressNow

2
New Mexicos Past Secretaries of State, New Mexico Secretary of State, accessed March 4, 2013.
3
Zah, Erny, Two candidates seeking to be New Mexicos Secretary of State, The Daily Times, May 4, 2014.
4
Massey, Barry, NM elections official changes view on contribution gap, Albuquerque Journal, October 13, 2011.
5
Massey, Barry, NM elections official changes view on contribution gap, Albuquerque Journal, October 13, 2011.
6
Elaine Baumgartel, League of Women Voters Guides Prohibited at the Polls on Election Day, KUNM, November 5, 2012.
7
Reichbach, Matthew, Bill to allow straight-ticket voting clears Senate, New Mexico Telegraph, March 7, 2013.
8
2013 Regular Session: SB 276, New Mexico Legislature, accessed may 6, 2014.
9
Simonich, Milan, New Push for straight-party voting, NM Capitol Report, Feb. 20, 2013.
10
ProgressNow New Mexico, Registered to Vote? Think Again. Thousands of MVD Voter Registrations Not Processed, May 22,
2014.
11
Thoren, Laura, Voting registration problems at MVD, KOAT Albuquerque, May 23, 2013.
12
Michael Haederle, Voter fraud claims ruffle feathers in New Mexico, Los Angeles Times, July 31, 2011.
13
Baker, Deborah, Dems Cry Foul at Voter Mailings, Albuquerque Journal, August 10, 2012.
14
SOS Puts Purge On Pause After Progress Now NM Raises Concerns, ProgressNow New Mexico, February 4, 2013.
New Mexico Secretary of
State Dianna Duran (R)
3
also uncovered email correspondence that showed that county clerks requested additional voting
machines in order to prevent long lines during the 2012 November elections. However, the requests
were denied due to budgetary constraints after Duran spent election funds on non-election day items
such as the voter purge cards, resulting in long wait times in locations such as Rio Rancho.
15
Also in
2012, Bernalillo County experienced a shortage in voter registration forms. After submitting a
request for 70,000 forms to the Secretary of States office, the county received just 35,000. As a
result, the county was forced to cut off the supply of registration forms to third-party groups.
16

Though the Secretary of States office, and particularly the elections division, should be nonpartisan,
Durans administration has shown multiple instances of playing party politics. For example,
Secretary of State Division Director Rod Adair was spotted tracking Democratic legislators at an
education rally organized by AFT and NEA. Adair, who works in the supposedly non-partisan
election division of the Secretary of States office, was described by the New Mexico Telegram as a
very conservative Republican and by the Albuquerque Journal as a demographer, a redistricting
expert and a Republican strategist who has helped Duran and other GOP candidates.
17
There have
also been multiple complaints of Duran not properly investigating allegations of campaign finance
misreporting.
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The most recent instance surrounds a poll conducted just before the 2014 June
primary by an independent expenditure group that gave negative information about Democratic
gubernatorial candidate Lawrence Rael. After Rael issued a complaint, Duran, rather than
investigating the source of the calls, notified Raels primary opponent, Democrat Alan Webber, that a
complaint had been filed against him. Both campaigns pointed out that the poll was conducted by
an IE and did not concern Webbers camp, causing Democrats to question whether the investigation
would be properly carried out, or if Duran was using her office to engage in partisan politicking.
19

During the 2012 election cycle, Durans office erroneously disqualified two independent party
candidates from the ballot. Libertarian Bob Walsh, who was running for State House, and Jon Barrie
of the Independent American Party, who was running for US Senate, were disallowed from the ballot
after a software program rejected a number of their qualification signatures. However, after the
candidates demanded hand recounts and took the issue to court, a data error was revealed in the
software, and both gained ballot access. Many in the state speculated that these highly
conservative candidates could have syphoned votes away from mainstream Republican candidates,
particularly in the US Senate race in which Republican Heather Wilson eventually lost to Democrat
Martin Heinrich.
20,21

Democrats and civil-rights groups have expressed frustration with Durans claims about voter fraud
in New Mexico. In one instance, Duran stated that there was a culture of corruption in the state
regarding elections in response to findings that 37 foreign nationals had voted in the 2010 election in
New Mexico. In 2011, Durans office issued a report laying out flaws with the states voter
registration database and highlighting the possibility of voter fraud. However, in their analysis of the
report, the Brennan Center for Justice pointed out that Duran failed to provide adequate evidence for
her claims and said that many of the problems with the system are administrative in nature and
should be corrected through the Secretary of States office. They also warned that the practice of
holding up unrelated allegations of voter fraud, vilifying non-citizens, and creating unnecessary work
for law enforcement is not responsible policy-makingits rabble-rousing and its bad governance.
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After Duran sent 64,000 voter registration records to the state police to investigate for possible voter

15
ProgressNow New Mexico, Doh! Martinez Nixed Funds For Vote Machines to Prevent Polling Place Lines, Nov. 15, 2012.
16
Bogado, Aura and Voting Rights Watch, Voter Suppression in the Land of Enchantment, The Nation, Aug. 3, 2012.
17
ProgressNow New Mexico, Sec. of State Director Goes Undercover to Track Democrats at Union Rally, Feb. 17, 2014.
18
ProgressNow New Mexico, Show me the Money! Did Jim Hall Fail to Disclose Contributions from Govs PAC? Oct. 19, 2012.
19
Reichbach, Matthew, Democrats criticize Durans handling of Rael campaign complaint, New Mexico Telegram, June 2, 2014.
20
ProgressNow New Mexico, NM Secretary of State data error kicks Libertarian and Independent off ballot, Aug. 8, 2012.
21
Horwath, Justin, Jon Barrie is on the ballot, Santa Fe Reporter, Aug. 29, 2012.
22
Gaskins, Keesha, NM: Scant Evidence of Fraud, But Plenty of Voter Registration Glitches, Dec. 12, 2011.
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registration fraud,
23
the New Mexico ACLU said that she undermined the publics confidence in our
elections and was making unfounded allegations.
24

2014
In 2013, Duran became a member of the executive committee of
the Republican Secretaries of State Committee, an arm of the
Republican State Leadership Committee, with the goal of electing
Republican secretaries of state.
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Democrat and Bernalillo County
Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver will be challenging Duran.
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Throughout her tenure as County Clerk, Toulouse Oliver worked to
improve voting access. In 2011, she supported legislation that
allows voters to cast their ballots at voting convenience centers
rather than traveling to precinct-specific locations,
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and she
supports expanding early in-person voting opportunities.
28
As
county clerk, she was also a vocal proponent of issuing same-sex
marriage licenses, saying, I am personally in favor of gay
marriage. I look forward to the day that we can issue marriage
licenses to same sex couples in Bernalillo County,
29
and even
before a New Mexico judge stated that discriminating against
same-sex couples violates the states constitution, Toulouse Oliver
had her office print 1,000 licenses in anticipation of the ruling.
30

While Duran has expressed support for voter ID requirements as a
method of ensuring electoral integrity, Toulouse Oliver opposes the
requirement, saying that it would deter some citizens from voting and that voter fraud is not a
prevalent problem.
31


Prior to her tenure as county clerk, Toulouse Oliver was named New Mexico State Director and then
Southwest Region Campaign Manager for the League of Conservation Voters (LCV). At LCV she
conducted several electoral, issue and advocacy campaigns, and worked to registered thousands of
New Mexico voters.
32
Toulouse Oliver has received endorsements from a number of Democratic
legislators and groups including Emilys List, AFSCME, NEA NM, AFT NM, IBEW Local 611,
Teamsters Local 492, Ironworkers Local 495, New Mexico Building and Construction Trades
Council, US Representatives Ben Ray Lujan and Michelle Lujan Grisham and a host of State
Senators and Representatives, including both House and Senate Majority Leaders.
33,34






23
Haederle, Michael, Voter fraud claims ruffle feathers in New Mexico, Los Angeles Times, July 31, 2011.
24
ACLU-NM Files Motion for Summary Judgment in NM District Court, ACLU New Mexico, January 10, 2012.
25
Cole, Thomas J, Gov. rubs elbows with high rollers, Albuquerque Journal, May 18, 2013.
26
Toulouse Oliver says shes in SOS race, New Mexico Telegram, September 9, 2013.
27
Associated Press, Democrat announces for NM secretary of state, The Daily Times, Sept. 9, 2013.
28
Cohen, Andrew, Voting Often, Voting Early, The Brennan Center for Justice, Nov. 1, 2013.
29
Velasquez, Anna Bernalillo Co. clerk not issuing gay marriage licenses, ABC News Albuquerque, Aug. 23, 2013.
30
Stevens, Matt. Largest New Mexico County to issue same-sex marriage licenses, Los Angeles Times, Aug. 26, 2013.
31
Zah, Erny, Two candidates seeking to be New Mexicos Secretary of State, The Daily Times, May 4, 2014.
32
Bernalillo County New Mexico: County Clerks Office, Archive.org, Accessed Feb. 7, 2014.
33
Up to the Minute with Maggie, April 2014, Maggie Toulouse Oliver for Secretary of State, accessed May 6, 2014.
34
Endorsements, Democracy.com. Accessed Jan. 27, 2014
Bernalilo County Clerk and
Secretary of State Candidate
Maggie Toulouse Oliver (D)