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Vote count finished, Clinton wins New Mexico

By Associated Press
Friday, February 15, 2008

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Sen. Hillary Clinton has been declared the narrow winner of New Mexico's Democratic caucus, following a troubled election and prolonged vote-count that lasted nine days.

State Democratic Party Chairman Brian Colón, whose party conducted the caucus, announced Thursday that Clinton had won 73,105 votes, or nearly 49 percent, to Sen. Barack Obama's 71,396, or about 48 percent.

Obama won six counties, including Bernalillo and Sandoval. Clinton took all the rest.

New Mexico was the last of the 22 states that held Democratic primaries or caucuses on Super Tuesday to declare a winner. The results were delayed because the outcome hinged on about 17,000 provisional ballots that had been cast Feb. 5, but were not immediately counted.

The former first lady's victory in the popular vote swung the final unallocated New Mexico delegate into her column, which gave Clinton 14 delegates to Obama's 12. A handful of Democratic party volunteers applauded and cheered as the result was announced.

With New Mexico's tally included, Obama now leads Clinton in the national delegate count 1,276 to 1,220.

"I am so proud to have earned the support of New Mexicans from across the state," Clinton said in a written statement. "New Mexicans want real solutions to our nation's challenges. As president, I will continue to stand up for New Mexico and will hit the ground running on day one to bring about real change."

Mara Lee, state director of Clinton's campaign in New Mexico, said: "We're absolutely thrilled to be the choice of New Mexicans."

The caucus Feb. 5 was a mess, with reports of overwhelmed polling places, long lines, too few ballots and voter confusion over where to cast their ballots. Rio Rancho, the state's third-largest city, had only one polling location; 1,900 people remained in line at 7 p.m as the polls closed on election night.

Colón has apologized repeatedly for the problems, saying he miscalculated turnout.

Carlos Monje Jr., state director of the Obama campaign, was asked Thursday if he was confident the results were 100 percent accurate. He declined to answer directly, saying only "we have confidence in the process."

Asked if the Obama campaign would pursue a recount, Monje said: "We have a lot of momentum behind our backs. We've won eight primary contests for Barack Obama. We feel we are going to look forward at the contests we have remaining."

He said there were some "troubling aspects" with how the caucus was conducted "that did not conform to the rules and procedures set by the party. Incredibly long lines and confusion at certain sites prevented many New Mexicans from casting their votes and shook their confidence in this process."

Monje said the campaign would continue to review the process "to make sure all questions are answered and make sure that the next election in New Mexico goes more smoothly and make sure all problems are fixed," he said.

The problems have prompted a statewide discussion of whether to hold another party-run caucus four years from now.

Colón, who came under fire for his handling of the troubled election, thanked the hundreds of volunteers who spent the past nine days counting ballots. He said volunteers donated 2,250 hours to work on the caucus.

Colón said the figures were certified by a four-member canvassing board, including himself, Thursday afternoon. The final figures, he assured, "are accurate, double-checked, triple-checked."

Pahl Shipley, a spokesman for Gov. Bill Richardson, said the governor was pleased the counting is over. Richardson abandoned his own presidential run for the Democratic nomination on Jan. 10, and has not endorsed either candidate.

"He congratulates Senator Clinton on her hard-fought victory, and applauds Senator Obama for his effort here in New Mexico," Shipley said.

He added, "While the governor believes that the party tried to make the best of a bad situation, the problems and delays are unacceptable and must be fixed if New Mexico is to continue with the early caucus."

According to results released by the party, Clinton received 67,246 votes on election day, 1,644 absentee votes and 4,215 provisional votes for a total of 73,105.

Obama won 65,874 votes on election day, 1,587 absentee votes and 3,935 provisional votes for a total of 71,396.

In Bernalillo County, Obama had 27,720 votes to Clinton's 25,825. In Sandoval, the Illinois senator won 3,691-3,360.

Santa Fe County was Obama's biggest prize, winning by more than 4,000 votes, 13,433-9,356.

Clinton won Valencia County by a wide margin, 2,726 to 1,834.

Of the more than 17,000 provisional ballots, only about 8,400 were counted. Some 3,500 provisionals, or about 20 percent, were cast by registered Republicans, Independents and Green Party members and so were disqualified, Colón said.

Three counties — Bernalillo, San Juan and Doña Ana — reported poll workers had to hand write ballots for voters. Colón said that such ballots were counted if officials could determine voter intent and that the voter was a registered Democrat.

Associated Press writers Tim Korte and Melanie Dabovich contributed to this report.