This year New Mexicans are deciding who should be the next chief elections officer for the state.
The incumbent Secretary of State, Maggie Toulouse Oliver, is a Democrat who has held the position since 2016.
She鈥檚 running against Republican Audrey Trujillo and Libertarian Mayna Myers.
The Albuquerque Journal Toulouse Oliver鈥檚 top priorities are voter accessibility, campaign finance transparency, and combatting election disinformation. Earlier this year her office launched a website to fact check false information.
鈥淓lection lies and disinformation are everywhere,鈥� she said in . 鈥淭hat鈥檚 why, as secretary of state, I put accurate and accessible voting information online.鈥�
The ad suggests her main challenger 鈥� Trujillo 鈥� is spreading false claims that former President Donald Trump won the 2020 election. Trujillo has echoed this on various platforms, like on former White House chief strategist Steve Bannon鈥檚 podcast, according to .
She uses this lens to call for 鈥渇air鈥� elections, that 鈥渆very legal vote will be counted鈥� and, on her website, she鈥檚 pushing to limit absentee voting to people with disabilities, those in the military, the elderly and voters who are temporarily out of the state.
鈥淲e take care of what鈥檚 happening in the Secretary of State Office, and we make sure we have fair elections, not selections,鈥� said Trujillo. 鈥淭hings are going to change, because the will of the people is what we need to protect.鈥�
So far Trujillo has raised $82,000 compared to about $583,000 raised by Toulouse Oliver, . That includes cash and in-kind contributions. Whoever wins would be for maintaining voter registration lists, testing voting machines and certifying precinct boundaries, as well as reporting campaign finances and regulating lobbyists.
If the governor cannot perform their role, the secretary is third in line to head the state after the lieutenant governor.
