New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver testified at a congressional committee hearing on election confidence Wednesday. Amid declining trust in elections and their results across the county in recent years, Toulouse Oliver touted the state’s efforts to turn the tide in the lead-up to November.
Toulouse Oliver told members of the U.S. Committee on House Administration that her work used to be “a relatively quiet affair.”
“We used to say, ‘If we’re in the news, we’re not doing a good job,’” She said. “Now, election administration has a much higher profile among the American public.”
She said this newfound attention can inspire more participation in elections, but there is also a darker side to what it has done to the public’s outlook.
“Because of what has now been years of false election claims and ideological attempts to discredit our voting systems and processes, much of the heightened awareness of elections is now colored by conspiracies, misinformation and, frankly, outright lies,” she said.
This has led to harassment and threats to election workers, including herself, Toulouse Oliver told lawmakers, and driven the plummeting confidence among voters.
“This is a vicious cycle that must be mitigated for the good of our country,” she said.
Toulouse Oliver discussed why New Mexico leads the nation in election administration, according to MIT’s Elections Performance Index.
“Some of the reasons for our ranking include our transparency around voting and elections, our wide variety of voter access tools, and the extensive security measures we have in place to ensure both accuracy and fairness,” she said. “Post-election audits, air-gapped tabulators, 100% paper ballots, year-round voter list maintenance, and a variety of other security measures.”
She touted her office’s strategies to combat false information, like its Rumor vs Reality project. And its work to build trust through the Your Vote Counts, New Mexico! media campaign, where local administrators educate voters about election integrity.
Toulouse Oliver concluded her testimony by lobbying the committee for consistent federal election funding to fight misinformation and disinformation coming from abroad.
