WASHINGTON —
The election certification process is meant to be pretty straightforward. Local officials are generally expected to certify votes, unless there are serious discrepancies.
But this month, in rural and heavily Republican Otero County, N.M., three commissioners refused to take such action. In doing so, they threw into doubt the votes of thousands of people.
Their reasoning for taking such a drastic step?
Unfounded fears of voter fraud.
Or at least, that’s what they’ve claimed (without a shred of evidence).
The commission echoed long-debunked allegations that then-President Trump made after losing his bid for reelection to Joe Biden in 2020. Those false claims motivated his supporters to violently disrupt Congress on Jan. 6, 2021, in the hopes of preventing lawmakers from cementing Biden’s electoral college victory. There was hope that the deadly insurrection would prompt a reckoning about such outlandish conspiracy theories and that, with time, they would fade away. But that has not been the case.
All the proof you need is what happened in Otero County.
Hello besties, I’m Erin B. Logan, a reporter with the L.A. Times. I cover the Biden-Harris administration. Today, we will discuss New Mexico’s elections, the resilience of conspiracy theories and the health of American democracy.
You may occasionally receive promotional content from the Los Angeles Times.
The controversy began when all three Otero commissioners...
PRESTONSBURG, Ky. — A third high-ranking employee has filed suit against Mountain Comprehensive Care Center, claiming she was fired for not following orders to submit false billing codes. Kristy St...