Submitted by Chris Jones, concerned citizen in Tularosa, NM
This letter is provided as opinion/commentary from the author.
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Open letter to Otero County commissioners:
Dear Commissioners,
I am appalled at the proceedings in the special meeting of May 9 a few weeks ago. It was apparent that its objective was not to reveal the truth, but to undermine faith in our free and fair electoral system.
Had the contractors actually intended to conduct a reliable forensic audit, the ballots would have been hand counted and the results compared to those published by the office of the Secretary of State. Furthermore, the canvas would have utilized data of known and reliable origin, which was not the case. Not even our own County Clerk was privy to their secret data.
The intent of the auditors was easily discerned when Antrim County Michigan was brought up, but no mention was made of the resolution of that issue. I already sent you articles explaining that the County Clerk there, Republican Cheryl Guy, took full responsibility for the error, which was corrected. All litigation associated with that error has since been dismissed by the judiciary.
Clearly the Audit Force, which has never been certified or licensed to investigate these matters, has a partisan political agenda and should never have been engaged by Otero County. The procedure you used to engage them is highly suspect, and was likely unlawful.
I believe the Audit Force deliberately misled you regarding a feature of computer systems known as “wake on LAN”. This feature is built into the BIOS chips (Basic Input Output System) of virtually all modern computer motherboards. It can only be used when activated in the BIOS settings and in the operating system. Any router used by the computer network must also be programmed to pass on the special packets required to power up the computer. The presence of such ubiquitous capability does not imply its use, nor does it imply the availability of a network connection.
As I recall, mention was made of a search warrant to obtain access to voting equipment in possession of our County Clerk. Such a warrant would require probable cause for presentation to the District Court. Baseless allegations and wild speculation clearly do not constitute probable cause, and neither does a barrage of technical jargon.
Given the political agenda expressed both by the Audit Force and by many attendees at the meeting, we have no guarantee that the voting equipment would not be tampered with and rendered unfit for elections if removed from the custody of authorized election professionals.
I’ll remind you that no voter or election fraud was found by the contractor EchoMail, and that no credible evidence of widespread fraud has passed judicial review anywhere in the nation. Time after time, all across America, allegations of fraud have demonstrated ignorance of election procedures and been debunked by simple and forthright explanations by election professionals.
I’ll also remind you that Trump attorney Sidney Powell, who also represented Commissioner Griffin, asked a federal judge to dismiss a defamation lawsuit filed against her by Dominion Voting Systems, claiming that “no reasonable person” thought her statements about the 2020 election results were factual.
I am not in a position to assess your motives in this controversy, but as a constituent and resident of Otero County, I am in a position to ask you to put an immediate end to this attack on our electoral system through disinformation and obfuscation.