ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (AP) — A state district judge has denied an emergency injunction filed by New Mexico Republicans to halt the counting of absentee ballots in a southern county.
Third Judicial District Judge James Martin ruled Tuesday that the state Republican Party and Las Cruces mayoral candidate Mike Tellez failed to provide evidence the Doña Ana County Clerk was causing harm by the way it was tallying absentee ballots.
GOP officials claimed the state Secretary of State and the Doña Ana County Clerk were ignoring a 2019 law over for absentee voting requirements. Republicans say the law calls for absentee voters to provide names, addressed, and years of birth.
State Republican chairman Steve Pearce says the injunction decision didn't change the validity of a lawsuit seeking to clarify how New Mexico counts absentee ballots.