ELIAS BARE. Attorney at Law, LLC ‘Se habla Espanol October 25, 2012 ‘The Honorable Dianna Duran The Honorable Sally Perea Secretary of State Valencia County Clerk State of New Mexico 444 Luna Avenue, S.E. 325 Don Gaspar, Suite 300 Los Lunas, New Mexico 87031 Santa Fe, New Mexico 87503 Hand-Delivered Dear Secretary Dianna Duran & Hon. Sally Perea: The purpose of this letter is to respectfully request on behalf of my client, the Democratic Party of Valencia County, that Ms. Peggy Carabajal, the current Valencia County Bureau of Election's Director, be removed from any aspect of, or role in, conducting the elections of November 6, 2012, This includes her not having any involvement in early voting, absentee voting, election day voting, tabulating the ballots after election day, and the certification of the election. Our concem with Ms. Carabajal’s role in managing the election for the Valencia County Clerk’s Office has nothing to do with her competency or her integrity as an individual. However, is our understanding Ms. Carabajal has complete access and is involved in every aspect of running this election, not only in a leadership role, but in a hands-on manner. She is also the Republican candidate for Valencia County Clerk in the November 6, 2012 election. Asa candidate and an administrator of the election, she has, at the very least, the appearance of a conflict of interest. ‘We wish to note, members of the Valencia County Democratic Party, to include the Chairman and Vice-Chairman, have met on two separate occasions, the first on October 15, 2012 and the second on October 23, 2012, with County Clerk Sally Perea and Ms. Peggy Carabajal in ‘an unsuccessful effort to amicably resolve this issue. Despite these discussions, Ms. Carabajal’s current role in this election has continued to cause a great deal of concern from many citizens who have directly observed her in her currer role and are alarmed by the appearance of a conflict of interest on her behalf. In fact, as of this week, several citizens have reported to me they have observed Ms. Carabajel in the execution of her duties as the Director of the Valencia Bureau of Elections and are alarmed by the clear conflict of interest. Some specific complaints are that she was seen greeting voters in line to cast carly voting ballots, and she was personally helping a voter fill out a ballot. Therefore, after much discussion on how this situation could be resolved with members of the County Clerk's Office and in light of the incidents related to us this week, we are now asking that you collectively take action to bar Ms, Carabajal from being involved in any aspect of the election. Mailing Address + Post Office Box 2416, Los Lunas, New Mexico 87031 ‘Street Address + 1504 Juan Perea, Los Lunas, New Mexico 87031 ‘Telephone (505) 866-1252 + Facsimile (505)866-1562 * —lits@baretalaw.com‘The Honorable Dianna Duran | Honorable Sally Perea | October 25, 2012 Page 2 As you know, November 6, 2012 is rapidly approaching, and we are respectfully requesting this action be taken in the very near future. We also ask we be informed in writing of any action you are willing to take at the earliest opportunity because we must evaluate what legal positions are available to us if you decline to remove her from any role in the upcoming election. Ifyou have any questions or wish to discuss this further, please do not hesitate to contact me. [look forward to your prompt response to this situation. Thank you for your consideration and cooperation. Very respectfully, ELIAS BARELA, ATTORNEY AT LAW, LLC SUZ ce.: ‘The Honorable Valencia County Board of County Commissioners, Hand-Delivered ‘The Honorable Bruce Swingle, Valencia County Manager, Hand-DeliveredPeggy Carabajal P.O. Box 122 Los Lunas, NM_ 87031 505-440-2446 October 29, 2012 Certified Mail Return Receipt Requested 7011 2970 0001 8403 8836 Dianna Duran Hand-delivered Secretary of State Sally Perea State of New Mexico Valencia County Clerk 325 Don Gaspar, Suite 300 PO Box 969 Santa Fe, New Mexico Los Lunas, NM 87031 Dear Secretary Duran and Ms, Perea: With the consent and permission of Sally Perea, I have elected to take annual leave from Friday October 26, 2012, until November 7, 2012, I adamantly deny the vague allegations in Mr. Barela’s letter of October 25, 2012, made without reference to dates, times or individuals involved, suggesting wrongdoing on my part. Ihave always completely separated my candidacy from my professional duties and I will continue to do so. choose to take annual leave for the sole purpose of removing any distraction this matter may cause from the intense and competent effort by Sally and her election team, now underway, to conduct the 2012 general election. It is with regret that I will not be helping my colleagues with the election effort, but I look forward to using the time to work on my campaign. ‘Two facts remain beyond dispute. First, working on elections is my job and profession, giving me unique qualifications for the elected position I seek. Second, I have an absolute right as a citizen to seek this election. County clerks and secretaries of state who seck reelection remain in office with duties under the law to oversee elections in which they are on the ballot. This occurs routinely, and is occurring presently, with self-imposed high standards of ethics and separation of professional duties from personal election activities. Iam not aware of any rule, regulation, policy or statute that applies a different standard to employces in the offices of the county clerks of New Mexico. perceive this eleventh hour demand by the local Democratic Party that a different conflict of interest rule be applied to me, an employee, to be tactic of intimidation calculated to discourage competent and qualified public employees from seeking positions for which they are qualified by experience. Trust that my decision to take leave has entirely resolved this matter. Please send me a written confirmation. Thank you. Sincerely, ee 6 Peggy Carabajal Ce: Anthony J. Williams, Attomey at LawSTATE OF NEW MEXICO DIANNA J. DURAN SECRETARY OF STATE October 31, 2012 Elias Barela Attorney at Law, LLC P.O, Box 2416 Los Lunas, NM 87031 Re: Your Request to Have Peggy Carabajal Removed Dear Mr. Barela: Thave received your correspondence dated October 25, 2012, regarding your request that Ms. Peggy Carabajal be "removed from any aspect of, or role in, conducting the elections of November 6, 2012.” After fully evaluating your correspondence and being otherwise fully advised by my attorneys, I find your request to have Ms. Carabajal removed without merit. Upon review of your correspondence, you are requesting that Ms. Carabajal be removed solely on the basis that she is a “republican candidate for Valencia County Clerk in the November 6, 2012, election.” You cite no specific statute or other legal authority under which the Secretary of State or any other election office could compel Ms. Carbajal to step aside because she is a candidate. Regardless, New Mexico law does not support your request to have Ms, Carabajal removed, In fact, the New Mexico Supreme Court considered a case in which a democratic county clerk was a candidate and found that there was only impropriety where a specific showing of Election Code violations were alleged and that simply being a candidate was not an impropriety (see Trujillo v. Trujillo, 52 N.M. 258 (N.M. 1948) (holding affirmed in Darr v. Village of Tularosa, 125 N.M. 394 (N.M. Ct. App. 1998), In your request to have Ms. Carabajal removed, you do not identify any specific New Mexico Election Code violation that you allege Ms. Carabajal has committed. To the contrary, as stated above, you only allege that she is a candidate. In fact, you go on to state that “[oJur concern with Ms. Carabajal's role in managing the election for the Valencia County Clerk's Office has nothing to do with her competency or her integrity as an individual.” Your request based on Ms, Carabajal's status of a candidate alone is clearly insufficient to remove her as Election's Director pursuant to Trujillo v. Trujillo, 52 NM, 258 (N.M. 1948). Because your request to have Ms. Carabajal removed is completely contrary to New Mexico Jaw and completely contrary to the many other election officials who have been involved in conducting elections in New Mexico while, at the same time, being a candidate, I question you and your client's motive in this case. With that in mind, I am forwarding your letter to the New Mexico 325 DON GASPAR, SUITE 300, SANTA FE, NEW MEXICO 87501 » PHONE: (505) 827-3600 « FAX: (505) 827-8081 (800) 477-3632 + www.sos.state.nm.usPage [2 | | Attorney General's Office with the request to have this investigated to determine if you and your | client have violated state law. Specifically, lam concerned that you and your client have attempted | to improperly disrupt the conduct ofthe election in violation of NMSA 1978, §1-20-20. In addition, | was recently approached by the Intelligence and Security Bureau of the Department of Homeland Security with the request that I report any threats to candidates within the State of New Mexico, I am reporting you and your client's meetings with Ms. Peggy Carabafal to this agency so that an investigation can be conducted by itto determine ifyou and your client's actions rose to the level of a threat or intimidation. Respectfully, Dianna J. Duran Secretary of State ce: Peggy Carabajal Sally Perea | |