Group protests city clerk's ballot decision

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - Upset voters marched outside City Hall Thursday, protesting the city clerk's decision surrounding the latest special city election.
    
The vote will decide if future city elections should require run-off elections if the candidates fail to get 50 percent of the vote. However, many of those who have mailed in their ballots will not be counted.

More than 4,000 ballots will not be counted.
    
Two city councilors joined a group of fired-up voters Thursday, who say the votes should be counted.
    
The rally started up around 10 o’clock Thursday morning, with protesters asking City Clerk Amy Bailey to change her mind.
    
Bailey says her decision was based on a city ordinance that says the clerk cannot count unsigned ballots or make arrangements for voters to come in and sign the ballots once they've been returned to the city.
    
“Under the ordinance and under state law, we cannot count votes which were returned unsigned,” Bailey said.

City councilor Isaac Benton, who joined Thursday’s protest, says there has to be some way to include the ballots of voters who mailed in their votes without a signature.

“As far as the city clerk, I think she needs to look into every possible means of seeing a way to allow these voters to vote,” Benton said.

Bailey says the instructions were clearly marked on all the envelopes and her office number was on there if anyone had any questions.
   
She also says that less than 50 people out of the 4,000 plus rejected ballots even made the effort to go to her office to sign another ballot, which still would not have been counted.
    
The last day for someone to mail in a signed ballot or go into the clerk's office to file their vote for this special election is next Monday, March 11th at 7 p.m.