NM Officials, Voter Advocates Monitor Election Disinformation

Posted September 26, 2024

New México’s Doña Ana County Clerk said she feels better than expected about security and safety ahead of November’s elections – but still works to dispel disinformation as quickly as possible.

Amanda López Askin said she expects to be fully staffed on November 5, and is also prepared for a “lone wolf” disrupting a polling place.

Askin said she doesn’t worry about mis- or disinformation influencing voters who call to make sure their registration is up-to-date. But she said she is concerned for those who don’t historically vote, and may fall victim to deceptive social media posts.

“Because it is often just headlines or sensationalized – and it’s not necessarily giving accurate information and creating a lot of faith in our elections.”

Earlier this year, New México’s elections were ranked best in the nation by the Elections Performance Index – a project of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Usually it plays on fears – emotions—things that we’re already uncomfortable with.”
Alissa Barnes, ProgressNow New Mexico

The advocacy organization, ProgressNow New Mexico, polled residents about election security.

Executive Director Alissa Barnes said results showed a majority – 53% of those polled – said they feel state elections are secure. She noted that only about 26% of respondents said they weren’t sure.

“Which is great,” said Barnes, “considering the sheer amount of election disinformation that has been ravaging our state and country since early 2020.”

The survey also found that New México’s Latinos and Hispanics appear slightly more confident about election security than probable white voters.

Barnes said it’s very time consuming to track, analyze, and do threat-analysis on disinformation – which typically only has short-term goals.

“Usually it plays on fears – emotions—things that we’re already uncomfortable with,” said Barnes. “And they’re short soundbites – there’s no meat to them. It’s easy to pick up, it’s easy to catch on – there’s no additional information.”

She said most disinformation in the state involves reproductive access, LGBTQ and trans issues, and New México’s oil and gas industry.

Roz Brown is a Producer for Public News Service.