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The new state elections director's anecdote about personal brushes with voting fraud have riled a number of county clerks and left others scratching their heads.

At a meeting of county clerks in Santa Fe on Jan. 23, Daniel Ivey-Soto recounted several conversations he'd had over the years with people who told him they'd used other people's identities to cast multiple votes, according to Ivey-Soto and others in attendance.

"I have been in conversations with people who have told me that, at various times, they've voted more than once on Election Day," Ivey Soto said in an interview this week. "It happens. Apparently some people were shocked by that."

Santa Fe County Clerk Valerie Espinoza, a Democrat, was one of them.

"To make those comments to a group of county clerks was really just unbelievable," she said. "As a lawyer, he knew that voting fraud is a felony, and if you know someone who does that, why don't you tell the attorney general?"

Otero County Clerk Robyn Silva, a Republican, echoed those comments.

"It kind of puts in motion the question, why didn't he do something about it?" she said. "Now he's going to be the elections director for the state?"

Other clerks said they thought Ivey-Soto might have been joking.

He wasn't.

Ivey-Soto, who took over as election chief three weeks ago despite having no experience running elections, said he recounted the conversations to make a serious point.

"In any system where people are allowed to express their opinion, you're going to get a certain amount of fraud," he said. "On `American Idol' you get people who call in to vote 16 or 17 times."

He said the conversations about voting fraud happened more than three years ago and suggested some may have been protected by attorney-client privilege.

Chris Atencio, political director for the state Republican Party, said Ivey-Soto had a responsibility as an officer of the court to report any knowledge of criminal behavior.

"It's something that would have been illegal not to report," Atencio said.

Ivey-Soto is a former general counsel for the state Democratic Party.

He said he is taking firm steps in his new role to minimize voting fraud.

"I don't have a cavalier attitude about these issues," he said. "If some people got that impression, that's an unfortunate impression."

Secretary of State Mary Herrera, a Democrat who took office Jan. 1, did not return a message Thursday. But spokesman James Flores said he'd spoken with Herrera about Ivey-Soto's comments.

"She's not concerned," Flores said, declining to elaborate.

The context of Ivey-Soto's remarks came amid discussion of several voting initiatives "on the horizon," Ivey-Soto said. One was the possibility of allowing people to register to vote at the polls on Election Day.

Several clerks raised concerns that the change would allow people to vote more than once and asked Ivey-Soto how he could guarantee it would not enable fraud.

"I told them, `I can't,' " Ivey-Soto said. "But I can't guarantee there isn't fraud going on now. I said, `I know people who have gone on Election Day and voted multiple times because they knew people who weren't going to vote.' I've never participated in that, but I know people who have."

Several clerks said Ivey-Soto was asked why he didn't turn the people in, though Ivey-Soto said he didn't remember hearing the question.

But aside from issues of attorney-client privilege, Ivey-Soto said none of the stories he was told involved imminent fraud.

"It was just people telling stories," he said. "It's not as if someone told me, `I'm about to go commit voter fraud.' "

Lea County Clerk Melinda Hughes said she remembered thinking she might have misunderstood what Ivey-Soto was trying to say.

"Voting fraud is a felony," she said. "We don't know him very well, and I thought maybe he was kidding."

A Democratic clerk who asked not to be identified said they thought Ivey-Soto might have been trying to warn clerks about behavior he didn't want to see.

"I didn't know if he was serious or what," the clerk said. "But I was taken aback."

So was Torrance County Clerk Linda Kayser, a Republican.

"We were all pretty taken aback when he said that," she said.

Los Alamos County Clerk Mary Pat Kraemer said she believed Ivey-Soto's comments were somewhat tongue-in-cheek.

"As a defense attorney, he's worked with people who've broken all kinds of laws," she said. "I don't think what he said was terribly serious."

Rumors and allegations of voting fraud have accompanied many New Mexico elections, but have proven difficult to substantiate or prosecute.

The Attorney General's Office dismissed charges this week against two people accused of paying for votes with money and alcohol during municipal elections in Española in March 2006.