Cobb & Badnarik take case to N.M. Supreme Court
By David Edwards on 9/6/2005, 5:40am PT  

Guest blogged by David Edwards

On Monday September 5, lawyers representing presidential candidates David Cobb of the Green Party and Michael Badnarik of the Libertarian petitioned New Mexico's highest court to order a recount of 2004 election.

This appeal to New Mexico's Supreme Court came after refusals of the state Canvassing Board and Gov. Bill Richardson to conduct a recount as set forth under New Mexico election law.

John Boyd, a lawyer for Cobb and Badnarik, said a recount of paper ballots and a recheck of voting machine results was still needed to highlight problems with New Mexico's election system.

"There is no more important issue than the purity of elections in this state," Boyd told justices during an hour-long hearing. "And I will tell ... the court that the elections are not pure."

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Cobb and Badnarik said the canvassing board had exceeded its powers in demanding more than $1 million in advance. The candidates filed a lawsuit, lost in district court and then appealed.

Boyd, the lawyer for Cobb and Badnarik, said the court should decide the case dispute because similar problems could occur in future elections if the canvassing board has "unfettered discretion" in deciding how much to charge candidates in advance for a recount.

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