“Democracy is important”: What Los Alamos County is doing to secure your vote

A conversation with Los Alamos County Clerk Naomi Maestas

Story and photographs by Stephanie Nakhleh

The MIT Election Data and Science Lab recently ranked New Mexico first in the nation for election performance — up from eighth place in 2018 — with Los Alamos County leading the state in election integrity and voter participation. In 2020, the County saw a 78% turnout in the presidential election, the highest in New Mexico. Los Alamos is doing well, but people are still worried. “We’ve never had to do this much contingency planning, even compared to the 2020 election,” said County Clerk Naomi Maestas. Concerns run the gamut from voter fraud and intimidation to machine tampering. She wants to ease voters’ minds – Los Alamos has got this.

Los Alamos County Clerk Naomi Maestas

Multiple layers of security

Election security starts with a paper ballot system. “We can recreate the election if need be,” said Maestas. “After ev…