Curry County clerk: 'We have a problem'

Hold off on those victory parties.

Curry County officials said this morning they’re unsure of vote numbers tabulated after the polls closed in Tuesday’s primary election.

“At this point we’re not aware if (results will change), but the potential is certainly there because we have some races that are too close,” County Clerk Coni Jo Lyman said.

“We know we have a problem in the (computer) software, we don’t know exactly what it is, we don’t trust our numbers. We’re not 100 percent comfortable with the numbers that are in the system. We don’t think that they are significantly off but we do think there are some differences.”
Officials were continuing to try and verify votes this morning after a software glitch delayed results Tuesday night.

Lyman said a software technician traveled to Clovis on Wednesday morning to assist with the verification and will be taking the device that reads voting machine memory cards back to the company for evaluation, she said.

Meanwhile, Lyman said personnel are comparing each tape of vote numbers to posted database results. Some of the contested positions could be affected by the recheck, she said.

They hope to have a more solid picture by mid-day, she said.

In one of the closest local races, Republican District 2 County Commission candidate Dan Stoddard said he went to bed Wednesday morning with the understanding he had taken the spot with a seven-vote edge over Alan Sumrall.

Wednesday morning, Stoddard admitted he was surprised to learn the votes were being re-verified.

“I’m feeling very confident. It’s been close, it’s been a great race, we both worked hard,” he said.

“I’m definitely anxious, unfortunately it just happens to be the way it’s going for our race. Hopefully they can get it settled before the general election.”

In other races, according to vote totals announced early Wednesday morning:

• Seth Martin had 22 votes more than Lisa Dunagan in the Republican District 4 Commission race;

• Caleb Chandler had 343 votes more than Charles Guthals in the Republican District 5 Commission race;

• and Wendell Bostwick had 18 votes more than Gloria Wicker in the Democratic District 4 Commission race.

Even results finalized today are still unofficial, Lyman said, explaining the officials results are not stamped by the governor for up to 40 days from the election.

The software used in Tuesday’s election and mandated by the state has only been used one other time, in the 2006 general election, Lyman said.

Voting results were delayed then also, with officials citing software issues and statewide server crashes on election night.

In the 2006 election, county officials reverted to a previously used software version to verify results before they were confident enough to declare the final tallies, according to CNJ archives.

“It takes time and I know that people get frustrated but in the years I’ve worked here, we’ve been here later than 2:30 (a.m.) a time or two. All I can say is I’m sorry,” Lyman said.

Lyman said candidates have been contacting her office and are anxious to know the final results. A candidate herself, she said she understands their desire to know the outcome.

“They want to know and we’re doing the best we can. We’re doing everything humanly possible. Life in the election industry is tough, especially when we have gotten our society dependent on Internet technology and software,” she said.


Curry County election results (final, unofficial results as of 1:24 a.m.)

U.S. President
Republican
• John McCain, 2,695, 92.52%
• Ron Paul, 218, 7.48%

U.S. Senate
Democrat
• Tom Udall, 1,542, 100.0%
Republican
• Steve Pearce, 1,715, 58.51%
• Heather A. Wilson, 1,216, 41.49%

U.S. Representative
District 3
Democrat
• Donald H. Wiviott, 801, 46.25%
• Ben R. Lujan, 538, 31.06%
• Jon Adams, 165, 9.53%
• Harry B. Montoya, 114, 6.58%
• Rudy Martin, 73, 4.21%
• Benny J. Shendo Jr., 41, 2.37%
Republican
• Daniel K. East, 1,851, 68.99%
• Marco E. Gonzales, 832, 31.01%


Justice of the Supreme Court
Democrat
Charles W. Daniels, 1, 376, 100%


State Senate
District 7
Democrat
• Thomas Jeffrey Carr, 469, 100%
Republican
• Clinton D. Harden Jr., 1,340, 100%

District 27
Republican
• Stuart Ingle, 887, 100%

District 42
Republican
• Gay G. Kernan, 372, 100%

State Representative
District 63
Democrat
• Jose A. Campos II, 366, 100%
Republican
• Matthew D. Rush, 341, 100%

District 64
Democrat
• Mario Trujillo, 913, 100%
Republican
• Anna M. Crook, 1,951, 100%

District 67
Democrat
• Craig L. Cosner, 102, 58.96%
• Van Robertson, 71, 41.04%
Republican
• Dennis J. Roch, 295, 100%

Ninth Judicial District Judge
Division 2
Democrat
• Drew D. Tatum, 1,425, 100%

Ninth Judicial District Attorney
Republican
• Matthew E. Chandler, 2,630, 100%

Public Education Commission
District 9
Democrat
• Carolyn Kennedy Shearman, 1,363, 100%

County Commission
District 2
Democrat
• Charles Benny Adams, 415, 100%
Republican
• Daniel J. Stoddard, 436, 50.4%
• Alan Glen Sumrall, 429, 49.6%

District 4
Democrat
• Wendell Bostwick, 173, 52.47%
• Gloria P. Wicker, 155, 47.26%
Republican
• Seth H. Martin, 191, 53.06%
• Lisa K. Dunagan, 169, 46.94%

District 5
Democrat
• Paul D. Barnes, 396, 100%
Republican
• Caleb J. Chandler, 763, 65.5%
• Charles H. Guthals, 420, 35.5%


County Clerk
Democrat
• Cindy A. McDaniel, 1,424, 100%
Republican
• Coni Jo Lyman, 2,663, 100%

County Treasurer
Democrat
• Kathrynn A. Tate, 1,498, 100%
Republican
• Bernice Baker, 2,424, 100%

•••



Roosevelt County election results
Unofficial final



U.S. President
Republican
• John McCain, 1,127
• Ron Paul, 148

U.S. Senate
Democrat
• Tom Udall, 602,
Republican
• Steve Pearce, 684
• Heather A. Wilson, 602

U.S. Representative
District 3

Democrat

• Donald H. Wiviott, 380
• Ben R. Lujan, 158
• Jon Adams, 57
• Harry B. Montoya, 46
• Rudy Martin, 22
• Benny J. Shendo Jr., 13
Republican

• Daniel K. East, 842
• Marco E. Gonzales, 335

State Senator
District 27
Republican
• Stuart Ingle, 821

District 42
Republican
• Gay G. Kernan, 336

State Representative
District 63
Democrat
• Jose A. Campos II, 105
Republican
• Matthew D. Rush, 129

District 66
Republican
• Keith Gardner, 605

District 67
Democrat
• Van Robertson, 87
• Craig L. Cosner, 108
Republican
• Dennis J. Roch, 355

Justice of the Supreme Court
Democrat
• Charles W. Daniels, 539

District Judge
Democrat
• Drew Tatum, 562

District Attorney
Republican
• Matthew E. Chandler, 1,117

Probate Judge
Democrat
• Mark B. Paternoster, 532
Republican
• Barbara A. George, 666
• C. Laverne Standifer, 362
• Mitchell C. Morgan, 250

Public Education Commission
Democrat
• Carolyn Kennedy Shearman, 537

County Commissioner
District 1*
Democrat
• Jake J. Lopez, 101

District 2*
Republican
• David C. Sanders, 250
• Richard Leal, 168

County Treasurer
Republican
• Mickie M. Williams, 1,076

County Clerk
Democrat
• E. Janet Collins, 633



•••



De Baca County election results
Unofficial Final



Precincts 1,2,3,4
U.S. President
Republican
• John McCain, 186
• Ron Paul, 30

U.S. Senate
Democrat
• Tom Udall, 338
Republican
• Steve Pearce, 180
• Heather Wilson, 38

U.S. Representative District 2
Democrat
• Bill McCanley 157
• Harry Teague 233
Republican
• Aubrey Dunn, 59
• C. Earl Greer, 18
• Edward Tinsley, 69
• Monty Newman, 50
• Greg Sowards, 8

Justice of the Supreme Court
Democrat
• Charles Daniels, 265

State Sentaor District 27
Republican
• Stuart Ingle, 191

Sate Representative District 63
Democrat
• Jose A. Campos II, 397
Republican
• Matthew Rush, 182

District Judge Divison 1
Democrat
• Donald C. Shuette, 288
Republican
• Albert Mitchell, 175

District Attorney 10th Judicial District
Democrat
• Ronald Reeves, 290

Public Education Departman Commission
Republican
• Vince Bergman, 170

County Commissioner District 3
Democrat
• George Gonzales, 407
Republican
• Jerry Crab, 67
• Jack Mullins, 104
• Jeaneta Staats, 28

County Clerk
Democrat
• Pauline Finney, 289
Republican
• Laurie Pettigrew, 190

County Treasurer
Republican
• Wanda White, 72
• Randy Ballard, 143

County Sheriff
Democrat
• John Marez, 56
• Dennis Cleaver, 264
• Kurt Griego, 128
Republican
• Paul Fishell, 172

Precinct 3 and 4 only
Public Regulation Commission District 3
Democrat
• Bruce Phrone, 27
• Jerome D. Block , 23
• Joseph Maestas, 18
• Louis Gallegos, 60
• Paul Campos, 63
• Arthur Rodarte, 7