In New Mexico, the state with the highest percentage of Hispanic residents who are eligible to vote, ID cards are printed in both Spanish and English.
The NM American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit against Secretary of State Dianna Duran today requesting the Second Judicial District Court order her to fulfill a long-overdue records request.
The ACLU originally requested proof from Duran's office of the undocumented immigrants she said were registered to vote in the state. Duran claimed that the information "indisputably qualifies as personal information protected from disclosure by the Driver Privacy Protection Act," and refused to release emails discussing the alleged fraud, claiming executive privilege. Subsequently, Duran released heavily redacted versions of the emails.
In its news release about the lawsuit, the ACLU-NM noted that in an executive order, Gov. Susana Martinez "severely limited the use of executive privilege, proclaiming that 'access to public information should be the rule, and denial thereof the exception.'"
Duran's office originally made the statements about the alleged voter fraud when the state Legislature was debating a bill that would require photo identification for voting in New Mexico.
Martinez' spokesman Scott Darnell declined via email to comment on the litigation.
