Some New Mexico elected officials are accused of spreading misinformation about elections instead of supporting county clerks and encouraging voter participation. These officials have allegedly been pushing narratives that aim to create distrust in the election system, especially concerning non-citizen voting.

A recurring false claim is that non-citizens vote in large numbers in U.S. elections, a narrative previously promoted by former New Mexico Secretary of State Dianna Duran in 2011 without evidence. This claim has resurfaced nationwide, particularly as the 2024 elections approach.

Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver testified before a congressional committee in Washington D.C., where she addressed questions about non-citizen voting despite data showing it rarely occurs. A study by the conservative Heritage Foundation found only 24 instances of non-citizens voting nationwide over two decades.

Recently, this narrative has appeared in New Mexico through an op-ed by Rep. Jim Townsend and other Republican officials published in the ABQ Journal. They claimed that the Secretary of State's Office was encouraging illegal voting through outreach mailers sent to potentially eligible voters. These mailers have been distributed since 2016 and clarify that all eligibility requirements, including U.S. citizenship, must be met to register.

The mailers are intended to inform New Mexicans about their registration status and participation ability while emphasizing that registering as a non-citizen is illegal. The office asserts that security and accessibility are not mutually exclusive regarding elections, highlighting measures such as using paper ballots, conducting mandatory audits, and maintaining updated voter rolls.

Maggie Toulouse Oliver encourages readers to seek trusted sources for election information and visit the Rumor vs. Reality page on her office's website for fact-checking common misinformation ahead of the November 5th General Election.