New Mexico: State Struggles With Campaign Finance Enforcement | Associated Press

Former New Mexico Secretary of State Dianna Duran was able to funnel thousands of dollars in campaign donations to her private bank accounts during a gambling binge without any regulatory agency noticing that she was breaking the law. Duran’s own agency was in charge of regulating campaign finance, but it was a confidential tip about numerous cash deposits that led to her getting caught. In the wake of the violations by Duran, more lawmakers were accused of sidestepping campaign finance laws by spending political donations on satellite TV service, clothing from outlet stores and other personal expenses.

New Mexico: Secretary of State Set to Terminate Right to Vote For New Mexico’s Leading Voting Rights Activist After 40 Years of Active Voting | ProgressNow

Diane Wood has voted in every New Mexico election since 1971, but this week New Mexico Secretary of State Diana Duran began the process to terminate her right to vote. Just 9 days ago, Duran announced that an analysis by her office had identified 177,768 “non-residents and non-voters”  (a full 15% of the state’s registered voters) whose voting rights would be terminated after a mailing to those legally registered voters was completed. Among the first to receive a mailer was none other than Santa Fe resident Diane Wood, the Voting Rights Director for Common Cause New Mexico, a non-profit organization working to ensure fair and accurate elections in the state. Wood received a notice in the mail at her Santa Fe home on Tuesday.  The notice directs Wood to verify her voting status with the Secretary of State’s own database, “Voter View” . However, when Wood checked her voting status there, she found that her status had been changed to “INACTIVE” in this mail purge alongside a list all of the elections she has voted in since 1992, a total of 44.  Wood’s most recent vote was just 88 days before she received the notice sent to alleged non-voters.