The polling places are now opening. The southeastern part of the state, very heavy in Republican population, is undergoing a winter storm warning which might keep voting down. It’s snowing and very cold for this area, and will later change over to rain and snow showers. In a lot of other rurual areas, it is the same, including the northeast part of the state. Here, rural equates with Republican. In contrast, the Albuquerque-Santa Fe corridor, heavily Democrat, is just cold, with no snow or rain forcast. The results of this are unknown as yet, but could be a factor. The polls close at 7 pm here, but remember, it is on Mountain Time, so that is 9 pm Eastern.

This is a battleground state with a lot of visits from the candidates and their surrogates. Kerry concentrated in the Albuquerque area, and Bush concentrated in the rural areas. There is great concern of voter fraud in this state, with ACT, Move-on, and other organizations heavily recruiting new voters, primarily in the Albu-Sante Fe area. There was a tough court battle several weeks ago over the Secretary of State’s interpretation of a state law that says first time voters must present ID when voting if they registered by mail. The Republicans insisted this included those who registered with the many get-out-the-votes organizations, and the Secretary of State, a democrat, insisted that it did not. The New Mexico State Supreme court, elected here, were Democrats, and sided with the Sec of State, so now the situation is that no one but those who actually mailed in their registration forms have to present ID to show who they actually are. This is a no ID state, and anyone can come in and vote in your name, so this should be interesting. Several weeks ago, there were reports in the media that ACT had registered 50 names at a vacant lot in Albuquerque. I will keep an eye out for any irregularities, as voter fraud, on both sides, used to be a blood-sport in this state.