SANTA FE—State Representative Nora Espinoza who was contacted to run for Secretary of State just ten days ago, filed her declaration of candidacy Tuesday.
With her declaration were 5,700 signatures from every county in the state.
"In just eight days of gathering signatures, we received almost five times the number I needed to file," said Espinoza, "the show of support and enthusiasm has been humbling and inspiring at the same time."
A state representative for Chaves and Lincoln Counties, serving in her fifth term, Espinoza strongly believes that electoral integrity is the foundation of democracy, and she is a strong supporter of measures to ensure that all citizens' votes are safeguarded, that each eligible New Mexican's vote is counted, and recorded accurately.
"I support an open, transparent process for everyone," said Espinoza, "every eligible New Mexican should be able to register simply, and cast his or her vote easily and without waiting in long lines. Votes should be protected by such measures as Voter ID, ensuring that no one's vote is stolen by those who commit voter fraud."
Throughout the state, Espinoza's potential candidacy was met with great enthusiasm, as voters responded to an appeal for a candidate who wants to protect the electoral process and safeguard elections.
In only 8 days, Espinoza gathered some 700 more signatures than the Democrat Party candidate, Maggie Toulouse Oliver who expressed interest in the race on October 29.
Espinoza gathered considerably more signatures in 8 days than Toulouse Oliver did in 95 days, gathering nearly 14 times as many signatures each day.
Toulouse Oliver campaigned in 2014 as a strong opponent of Voter ID, saying it "suppresses the vote," and dismissing vote fraud, claiming it had only occurred 34 times in a billion votes, despite her own experience with having registered a dog to vote.