The Rio Arriba County Board of Registration purged 1,007 names from County voter registration rolls March 19 in Tierra Amarilla, County Clerk Moises Morales said.
“We started at 10 a.m. and were done by 1 p.m.,” Morales said.
The Board had to be re-appointed by the County Commission March 18, just a day before the voter purge, because Secretary of State Mary Herrera had objected to the County’s longstanding practice of the county clerk handpicking Board candidates.
State election law requires that candidates’ names be submitted by county political party chairs and that commissioners select a three-member Board from those lists, Herrera had said. The County Commission had approved a four-person board Feb. 26 before either County Democratic Party Chairwoman Theresa Martinez or County Republican chairwoman Geraldine Sanchez had been consulted.
Morales reported that the new Board was composed of the same people he had originally appointed to the Board. He just got approval this time from the party chairs.
Board members included Democrats Andrea Torrez and Henry Ochoa and Republican Maria Zamora. Ochoa is brother-in-law to County Commissioner Felipe Martinez — a fact that
made Herrera uncomfortable but was not illegal, she said.
Republican David Martinez and Democrat Sophie Martinez were alternates but did not participate in the voter purge since all three Board members were present, Morales said.
Sanchez also attended the Board’s meeting to observe the purging process, Morales said. Democratic Chairwoman Theresa Martinez did not attend and did not return calls for comment.