Votes not counted due to mapping error

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - With the Election Day on Tuesday, there's now concern about Bernalillo County residents voting on city of Albuquerque issues.

Some have already cast their ballots, which has set off a firestorm of questions.

“I want to be part of the decision making,” Michael Thompson said. “It kind of makes me upset. What do I have to move down into the city and pull up roots, just so I can vote on issues that are desperately needed in this community, it's pretty sad.”

The mobile home community Tierra West, near Atrisco Vista and I-40, is so close to Albuquerque that residents feel a part of the city but they are not.

Residents here who cast their votes early discovered they had the same ballots as Albuquerque voters, which included issues like the minimum wage hike and the Paseo del Norte project.

Now, those votes will not count because of a mapping error that's been over-looked since 2005.

It was discovered when a resident questioned what can and can't be on their ballots.

Right now, the Tierra West Mobile Home Park is about half full, which the county clerk says will affect 60 ballots.

The question remains, if residents are paying taxes, shouldn't they be allowed to vote on city issues?

"That's an age-old question,” Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver said. “I mean, I think in terms of this particular election; what we understand and what the election code says and what the city charter says is that they need to be residents within the city limits.”

Come Election Day, the county clerk says city questions will not be on the ballot for those residents.

Bernalillo County will now have to get a court order to remove the answers from early voter's ballots.