Election tally details potentially jeopardize secret ballots in NM, other states
By Barry Massey, APFriday, July 16, 2010
Ballot secrecy compromised in NM, other states
SANTA FE, N.M. — For hundreds of voters in New Mexico, and potentially those in a handful of other states, the secret ballot is not so secret, an Associated Press review has found.
It’s possible to learn the identities of voters and which candidates they supported by checking public records. Detailed election data, which lawmakers have demanded to help them with their campaigns and redistricting, often is the culprit.
In New Mexico, in precincts where only one or a handful of voters participated, it’s possible to identify voters and determine who they supported by cross-checking public records — a roster of voters who cast ballots in a precinct and the precinct-by-precinct results.
There were at least 370 single-vote precincts in this year’s Democratic and Republican primaries in New Mexico, according to the AP review.
