“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.
Multiple layers of security
Election security starts with a paper ballot system. “We can recreate the election if need be,” said Maestas. “After every election, there’s an audit that takes place using random sampling. We have no idea what precinct, what voting location, whether it’s absentee, whether it’s Election Day or early voting.”
Maestas wanted to debunk some common misconceptions and reassure voters that their efforts matter. For example, one concern she often hears is that ballot-counting machines could be hacked. Maestas explained that voting equipment is never permitted to connect to the internet and that any attempt to manipulate votes would be caught by post-election audits, which compare electronic tallies to paper ballots. “We’ve literally had people crawl on their hands and knees to make sure we’re not connected,” Maestas said. Each machine is secured with numbered seals, documented on certificates shared with the Secretary of State’s office and party chairs for verification.
She added that the County’s ballot drop boxes are under 24/7 video surveillance. Footage is stored in the cloud and monitored for environmental conditions like water or excessive heat. Following a strict chain-of-custody protocol, bipartisan teams check these boxes every few days. “By law it has to be every three days; no more than 72 hours,” she said.
Addressing voter intimidation
“What we’re hearing is [fears about] voter intimidation, and voter intimidation can look like different things,” Maestas said. “It could be as simple as someone saying ‘don’t vote for this person or this candidate,’ but it extends to misinformation and disinformation. That’s where it gets scary to me, because when there’s misinformation out there, people start losing trust in the process, and then they stop voting. To me, that’s voter intimidation.”
To address these concerns, Los Alamos County recently participated in a high-level security meeting with the governor, Department of Homeland Security, the FBI, and the Secretary of State to discuss election security measures. “It was great to see the think-tank that was in that room,” Maestas said. “I know our governor is making sure we’re safeguarding our elections. It’s at the forefront of everybody’s minds right now.”
Protecting voter identity and preventing fraud
Another concern is that more than one ballot could be generated for each voter, allowing a person to vote multiple times. This cannot happen, said Maestas. For absentee voting, ballots are verified using signatures and the last four digits of the voter’s Social Security number. The process is equally rigorous for same-day registration, requiring government-issued photo ID and proof of current address. The ballot-on-demand system synchronizes in real time across the state, preventing duplicate voting.
“Another misconception is that non-citizens are allowed to vote,” Maestas said. This is patently false: “You have to be a citizen of the United States and live in your county to vote,” she said. In fact, you can’t even vote outside of your county — an issue that has come up when people passing through see the new mobile voting units and walk up to them, hoping to vote. Not possible, said Maestas, if they are not registered here. They will be turned away.
Challengers, watchers, and observers
Los Alamos County welcomes election challengers, observers, and watchers from both political parties, though they must complete mandatory training through the Secretary of State’s office. Here’s what these designations mean:
Challengers are appointed by political party chairs. They must be registered to vote in the county where they serve. As their title suggests, challengers can raise formal challenges if they spot potential issues. They can examine signature rosters, review voting applications before ballots are issued, and inspect voting machines before polls open.
Watchers can be appointed by election-related organizations or groups of three candidates. They must be New Mexico voters, but they don’t need to live in the county where they’re “watching.” When appointed by candidates, they can only watch in counties where those candidates appear on the ballot. They have to register at least a week before the election. Their role is more general than that of challengers; they observe the overall conduct of the election rather than raise specific challenges.
Observers are more specialized. This role is limited to two groups: international election observers registered with the U.S. Department of State and academics who study elections and are registered with the New Mexico Secretary of State. Their primary purpose is to study and research the election process rather than to monitor for specific issues.
All three roles operate under common restrictions. None can handle ballots or voting machines, perform election board duties, or interfere with the election’s conduct. They must wear official identification badges and complete required training. They cannot be candidates themselves or close relatives of candidates. Only one person per party or organization can be in a polling place at any given time.
They also can’t touch anyone: “Unfortunately, we saw some bad actors; people that were maybe not behaving—they were actually touching the poll workers.” These were people who claimed to be challengers or watchers. And by “touching,” Maestas meant grabbing, she clarified, though she added that this happened in New Mexico in counties other than Los Alamos.
Maestas said that so far, watchers, observers, and challengers in Los Alamos have been professional and respectful.
Logic and accuracy
Before each election, every voting machine undergoes a process called “logic and accuracy testing” to ensure votes are counted correctly and systems are secure, said Maestas. The testing process starts with pre-election verification, where each machine is tested with a predetermined set of test ballots marked with known vote patterns. The results must exactly match the expected outcomes.
Maestas said machines are sealed with tamper-evident seals, and their serial numbers are logged and verified daily. Only authorized election workers with proper credentials can access machine controls, and all machine access and operations are logged for audit purposes.
“We go through every extent possible to make sure our elections are safe and secure,” she said. “We get extra patrols from our police officers. We have cameras at a lot of our places. We have seals put into all of our tabulators. They’re locked and sealed — and they’re not networked.”
After the election, additional audits verify the results. Random audits compare paper ballots to machine tallies, and any discrepancies trigger expanded audits and investigations, she said.
Innovation in accessibility
Los Alamos County recently unveiled a mobile voting unit (MVU), the second county in New Mexico to offer this service. The trailer, currently sitting on the southern end of the Smith’s parking lot, has three voting stations. Ramps and handrails make it compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). “We parked it over at the senior center for a couple of days, and we had nine voters vote,” said Maestas. Due to their mobility issues, “I don’t think they would have had an opportunity to vote otherwise.”
The MVU, funded through Department of Homeland Security grants, is part of the county’s emergency preparedness plan. “In 2022, when we were threatened by wildfire during the primary, we learned we would still need to offer voting even if the county was evacuated,” Maestas said. “The MVU gives us that capability.”
Committed to democracy
We’re very fortunate in Los Alamos, Maestas said. “While we pride ourselves on being a safe community, we still plan extensively to ensure election integrity.” The County Clerk’s office has worked for years to ensure ballots are processed by bipartisan teams and that extensive security measures protect each vote.
“I think people are hearing the national chatter, which is unfortunate,” said Maestas, referring to conspiracy theories about election integrity. “People have meetings on a daily basis that are dealing with these issues, it’s so unfortunate.” But she remains optimistic about Los Alamos’s future: “Democracy is important. We’ll look back one day, in our rocking chairs, and say: I was part of something important.”
Early voting in Los Alamos County ends on Saturday, November 2 at 6 p.m. On Election Day, Tuesday, November 5, voters registered in Los Alamos County can cast their ballots at any of five locations from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.: the Municipal Building on Central, UNM-LA on University Drive, the Senior Center on Bathtub Row, the Golf Course on Diamond, and the White Rock Town Hall on Longview Drive. More information is available at the Los Alamos County Clerk’s website: https://www.losalamosnm.us/Home/Tabs/Whats-Happening/Election-Information
Great job County Clerk, Naomi Maestas and your team. I enjoyed my time working with you in Los Alamos during our elections. I can't wait to see what you're going to do next! Jill B.