The office of Secretary of State Dianna Duran says that the names of 641 dead people are still on the voter registration rolls in New Mexico.

Ken Ortiz, Duran’s chief of staff, says they still don’t know whether anyone has voted using the name of a dead person because they need to check the dates of death against the dates when the names were last used to vote.

The review of voter registration records will be part of a report to the Legislature that Duran is compiling. As part of this review, Duran also announced that 2 non-citizen foreign nationals had confessed to accidentally registering to vote without knowing that it was illegal.

Duran has made pursuing voter fraud by foreign nationals a high priority, and earlier in the year announced that her office had identified at least 117 foreign nationals on the voter registration rolls, and that 37 foreign nationals had voted in the 2010 elections.

As Keesha Gaskins of the Brennan Center for Justice observed after Duran’s announcement, matching the names and birthdays of voters and lists of foreign nationals in the state is a bad way to check if illegal voting has taken place. Statistically, Gaskins points out, finding matching names and birthdays is quite likely when comparing lists with hundreds of thousands of names over long periods of time.

Finding mismatches between names and Social Security numbers on voter rolls is also a flawed method of identifying fraud, because it discounts the possibility that a Social Security number could be incorrectly entered into the system, either due to the voter’s error when filling out the form or due to an error during data entry.

At the time, Duran also claimed that there were up to 64,000 possible cases of voter fraud in the state. The ACLU of New Mexico filed a lawsuit against Duran in July after she made this claim and refused to release documentation to back it up, which the ACLU argued was a violation of the state’s public records law.

Duran said this week that her office is asking some voters to re-register due to irregularities on their form. However, she also said that she would not be purging inactive voter files this year or next year because by federal law notices must be sent in advance to the voter’s address notifying them that their file will be eliminated, something her predecessor did not do.

“I didn’t meet Gessler,” Smith told the Colorado Independent on his way back from the office. “I met two people from the Elections Division. They were polite and professional but they didn’t let on about Gessler’s plans. Actually, one of them seemed more interested in sharpshooting our petition.”

Smith said that, of the 9,000 signatures he delivered, 3,400 were signatures from veterans. He said the petition contained the full names, addresses and, where appropriate, veteran status. The Elections Division staffer, however, suggested that wasn’t enough.

“He wanted to know how we had informed our members, what we told them this was about. He also asked for email addresses and phone numbers for each [signatory]. I feel like that would be intrusive, not very polite to ask for that personal information,” Smith said.

Gessler has argued that sending ballots to inactive voters — registered voters who failed to cast ballots in 2010 — violates state law. The law requires clerks to send ballots to all active voters and Gessler maintains that that language precludes clerks from also sending to inactive voters. He has pointed out that not all counties have mailed to inactive voters this year or in past years and that he intends to make election processes uniform across the state. He has said preventing clerks from mailing inactive ballots will also guard against voter fraud, although the incidence of voter fraud tied to mailed ballots is almost non existent, nor is it in any way a greater threat where inactive voter ballots as opposed to active voter ballots are concerned. Gessler has provided no evidence to suggest anything different.

Denver had already sent out its ballots to inactive voters, including soldiers doing service out of county, when Gessler filed suit to win an injunction. Denver has sent out ballots to inactive voters for the last five years.

Pueblo County Clerk Gilbert Ortiz joined the lawsuit the week before the hearing, pained by the notion that soldiers from Pueblo stationed in Iraq and Afghanistan would be denied a basic democratic right they are fighting to foster overseas. Upon hearing the judge’s ruling against Gessler, he ordered his office to immediately mail out the inactive voter ballots.

Ortiz said his county legal counsel had advised that Gessler’s rule would violate federal law ensuring that clerks mail ballots to all registered-voter service members.

Putting aside the legal arguments, Ortiz told the Independent that the point of mailing the ballots is to help the soldiers out.

“You can just imagine, they have bigger things on their minds. When they have the ballot in their hand, they’ll vote.”

Smith’s organization, VoteVets, has more than 100,000 members. The organization seeks to advance legislation that benefits veterans but also works to make known veterans’ opinions on top issues of the day.

“I live in Denver,” Smith said. “I’ll just say I’m a big fan of democracy. So I was following this story pretty closely anyway. When Clerk Ortiz asked Gessler ‘What about soldiers?’ ‘What about the military?’ That’s when we really got involved.

“I love Colorado. I didn’t want people around the country to see this as the kind of place that is bad on voting.”

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The roughly 100 protestors, representing Texas-based social justice and immigration rights organizations, sought to send a message about keynote speaker Perry’s “hateful” anti-immigration policies proposed this Legislative session, as well as perceived fiscal irresponsibility.

“We want the governor to hear what we think and feel about his anti-immigration bills,” said Silvia Mintz, attorney and former 2010 Democratic candidate for Texas House District 132. Mintz pointed to Senate Bill 9, a measure requiring cities to adopt federal enforcement guidelines that channel identification information of arrested individuals to FBI and immigration databases to determine citizenship status, and House Bill 12, which bans so-called ‘sanctuary cities.’ Deemed “emergency legislation” by Perry, HB 12 prohibits local governments from disallowing law enforcement from inquiring about the immigration status of those who are detained or arrested. Some crowd members plan to lobby against the bill at the Capitol during a Senate committee hearing Wednesday.

“It’s silly how these Republicans who claim to be fiscally responsible are passing bills that are headed to the courthouse and will end up costing taxpayers millions,” she said, referring to similar legislation passed in Utah, recently met with a constitutional injunction by a federal judge. “These immigration bills divide families and add to the mistrust people already feel about law enforcement, as police are forced to act as immigration officers.”

Maria Jimenez of the Immigration Law Enforcement Monitoring Project (LEMP) said many in the crowd were upset with a perceived reversal by Perry on his position against bringing Arizona-style immigration laws to Texas.

“The governor lied to the many Hispanics that voted for him,” Jimenez said. “He said there would be no Arizona-type law in Texas then proposed a sanctuary cities bill, which is in some ways worse as it extends the power of local law enforcement.”

Protestors were part of Houston United, a coalition of 14 religious, labor, social justice, civil right/liberties and immigration rights groups as well as Houston Peace and Justice Center, LULAC Southwest, Code Pink Houston chapter, Working Families, area Democratic organizations and unions.

While the majority came out to protest immigration legislation, a number of demonstrators rallied in opposition to the state’s cuts to public education and health care. The chorus of objectors additionally chanted, “Save our schools, save our teachers, save our children,” and “Tax the wealthy.”

Electrical worker Turner Wright said Texas Republicans have created a two-class system– rich and poor – as struggling, working-class families are forced to foot the bill for a $27-billion state budget shortfall.

“Perry brags about the number of businesses that come here because of tax breaks and cheap labor instead of helping ensure Texans receive good, quality jobs,” said Wright, a member of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers local unit. “We are not prioritizing education, children or the future of our state.”

When a local news station camera appeared to document the protest, a KSP member appeared, extending a bowl of cookies to demonstrators.

“No cookies,” the protestors retorted. “We want justice!”

Inside the new KSP headquarters, a much different scene played out. Around 600 supporters joined together over wine and live piano music, applauding vigorously at mentions of the immigration bills and downplaying the protestors outside. The guest list included Republican officeholders such as Perry, U.S. Reps. Kevin Brady, Pete Olson and Ted Poe, state Sen. Dan Patrick, state Rep. Sarah Davis, and Railroad Commissioner David Porter, as well as Patricia Dewhurst, wife of Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst. Conservative activist Hannah Giles (a self-described “journalist” who posed as a prostitute in undercover videos to show wrongdoing by ACORN) and Stephen Steinlight of the Center for Immigration Studies were also in attendance.

“Let me get something straight about wealth – there is nothing wrong with it,” said Perry, who touted his fiscal conservatism and “pro-growth” policies while dismissing the White House administration’s “liberal utopian fantasy,” and promoting states’ rights. Perry thanked the audience for having him join “regular folks that make the world go ‘round.”

“There are people up in Austin, Texas, today […] who are wearing out the Speaker; they are up there wearing out everybody. As a matter of fact, I think some of them are out there on the street right now,” he said of the protestors outside. Perry said:

“They want us to spend all the money; they want us to spend everything that’s in the Rainy Day Fund; they want us to see taxes go up. I am sure some in this state would like to see a personal income tax happen, because they say ‘we’ve got to have more money to have our public schools; we’ve got to have more money to have our police officers so we can stay safe; we’ve got to have more money so we can have the transportation infrastructure to move things around. I am not a political science major or economics Ph.D from Harvard. I am simply an animal sciences major from Texas A&M, but I get it when it comes to the principles of economics. If you do not create an environment where the entrepreneurs in your state feel comfortable to risk their capital and have a good chance to have a return on their investment, you’re not going to have the jobs created that in turn create the wealth that pay for the teachers, that pay for the health care.”

In an interview before the speeches were given, U.S. Rep. Poe also minimized the message of the protestors. “I’m glad they are here. They have a constitutional right to protest,” he said adding, “But they don’t stand for anything – they are just against King Street Patriots. They have no solutions to the problems they are protesting.”

Similarly, state Sen. Patrick said Texas conservatives were sending a message to the protestors on the street that they “can govern while living within our means and still fund our teachers and our nursing homes.”

The KSP event, a celebration of the group’s new offices just down the road from their previous northwest Houston location, aimed to generate donations – starting at a suggested $50 – from its guests. While KSP was lauded by politicians and activists during the event, it has also received criticism for its True the Vote project, aiming to recruit 1 million poll watchers to monitor the 2012 elections. The group is currently involved in legal battles with the Texas Democratic Party, voter registration group Houston Votes and campaign finance watchdog Texans for Public Justice.

Read the Texas Independent for more reporting on KSP/TTV.

“Some radical groups don’t like having honest elections. I can’t imagine anyone being opposed to honest elections,” said Poe of the litigation against KSP.

“Their cause keeps growing and growing, and there is such a need for it. This building, I believe, is a testament to perseverance and fighting for what’s right and exposing what’s wrong – I am just a big fan,” said Brady before the speeches took place.”

The blogger who looked at the data reports that according to Waukesha County election results, nearly 98 percent of registered voters participated in the 2004 election, out of a similarly large pool of voters — over 83 percent of those eligible to vote are registered in Waukesha, according to the same figures. Since people are able to register on the same day they vote, voter turnout is generally taken as the percentage of the voting-age population that actually votes in a given election. Using this standard metric, Waukesha County’s 81.4 percent voter turnout in 2004 was much higher than the national average of 55.3 percent that year. Still, a particularly vigorous voting population is circumstantial evidence at best for anyone looking to prove the allegations of fraud and conspiracy that have been hurled at Nickolaus since last week.

Another set of data, however, may be far more damaging to Nickolaus in the coming weeks. The Daily Kos poster found among Wisconsin state election records the results that were submitted for Waukesha County in the November 2006 election. From the Daily Kos post:

So, do you see it? In the race for Governor/Lieutenant Governor there were a total of 176,112 votes cast. For Attorney General there were a total of 174,047 votes cast. And for Secretary of State there were a total 170,440 votes cast.

So, look at the 3rd line of the top of that report…Total Ballots Cast: 156,804. So based on those numbers 20,000 extra votes were cast in the election that weren’t actually accounted for in the ballots cast.

At least one Daily Kos commenter has pointed out that the totals that appear on the Waukesha County website aren’t necessarily the official totals recorded by the state after going through a canvassing board. Yet the fact remains that these are the results reported by Nickolaus, the same person responsible for the sudden appearance of thousands of votes that swung the state Supreme Court election in her party’s favor.

U.S. Rep. Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) has submitted a request to the Justice Department to investigate the Supreme Court election returns. If that request is honored, Wisconsinites will soon see whether Nickolaus’s discrepancies are a series of innocent and unrelated data quirks or if something more deliberate is at play.

A letter to supporters reads:

“If you have been to a weekly meeting at King Street, you know our hallmark of fundraising is passing a cowboy hat. Fellow patriots, we cannot pass a cowboy hat fast enough to keep up with the growth of our program. We’ve moved to larger space, added a weekly live stream webcast, and are actively working to build True the Vote models across the country. The True the Vote National Summit was attended by patriots from 27 states and watched by thousands online. Together, we are building a national program. To continue to grow and sustain this burgeoning national effort we will need to raise approximately $500,000. That is a big number, but it is absolutely achievable. Together, we can true the vote in every election across the nation.”

From March-October 2010, the Houston tea party group brought in about $87,000 in donations, according to financial records it posted online in response to legal action threatened by the Texas Democratic Party, the Texas Independent previously reported. Three large individual deposits accounted for more than $34,000 of that total.

KSP, its True the Vote project and leader Catherine Engelbrecht are embroiled in suits brought by Texas Democrats, Harris County Democratic Party and Houston Votes head Fred Lewis, and is also the subject of a Texas Ethics Commission complaint by nonprofit watchdog Texans for Public Justice. KSP is a 501(c)4 nonprofit, while True the Vote has applied for 501(c)3 status.

Last Friday, U.S. Rep. Pete Olson (R-Sugar Land) commended KSP on the floor of Congress for receiving the Ronald Reagan Award at the Conservative Political Action Conference.

Olson said:

“The King Street Patriots started the True the Vote initiative in an attempt to uncover voter fraud in the greater Houston area. In their investigation they discovered unimagined levels of voter fraud, from vacant lots with registered voters to election judges helping voters with their ballots.

This is a movement made up of ordinary citizens who realize that voter fraud is one of the most egregious offenses under our Constitution. The King Street Patriots are now lobbying the Texas legislature to strengthen election laws and prevent future abuses.”

KSP challenged thousands of voter registration applications — not in Olson’s suburban Congressional District 22 — but in inner-city Houston’s CD 18, represented by Democratic U.S. Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee.

A request for comment was not immediately returned by Jackson Lee’s office.

Huston characterizes as “whimpering” objections by liberal news site Talking Points Memo to having its reporter barred from the event — while Huston and other right-wing writers graced the speaker’s podium, and conservative blogger Kathleen McKinley, who has a reader blog hosted by the Houston Chronicle, appeared to have no trouble gaining access to the summit.

Huston said it was no surprise that tea party group King Street Patriots shunned unfriendly liberal media members.

He writes:

After all, these leftists don’t want free and fair elections. They want to be able to steal elections at will. Efforts like TTV’s threaten the left’s power to steal close elections as they have so many times.

The whining aside, it is a fact that everyone involved at the event are from the conservative side of the aisle. It is the contention of TTV that truing the vote is good for the right because vote fraud is nearly an exclusive crime of the left.

Huston notes that former Department of Justice attorney J. Christian Adams (whose allegations that DOJ colleagues unfairly dismissed claims of voter intimidation by the New Black Panthers Party were recently refuted by an internal review) spoke about a section in the Help America Vote Act requiring states to maintain clean and accurate voter registration rolls.

Huston writes:

Adams informed us that the Democrats refuse to follow the law and carry out these required purges of illicit registrations.

He said that one of the things that could really shut down Democrat[ic] vote fraud is to enforce this provision. He hoped that groups could sue under this provision and force Democrats to obey the law.

King Street Patriots first garnered media attention last fall with allegations of massive voter fraud in Harris County, calling into question thousands of voter registration applications — with the cooperation of then-Harris County tax assessor-collector Leo Vasquez, a Republican.

The photo that Huston posts is of self-described ‘ACORN whistleblower’ Anita MonCrief and Earl Johnson, the leaders of the Houston-based Crispus Attacks Tea Party.

“Some places require an ID to cash a check at McDonald’s; if it’s good enough for McDonald’s it should be good enough for one of the greatest privileges that democracy affords, and that’s the right to vote,” said Coleman.

Republicans at the Minnesota Legislature have also made similar claims that voting is like buying alcohol, cigarettes or plane tickets.

The interviewer pressed Coleman about his race with Franken and alleged voter fraud, but Coleman balked a bit. “I’m not complaining about my race,” he said, later added, “ACORN didn’t support a lot of Republicans and we’ve seen a lot of about fraud.”

He added, “My race was decided by 301 votes; ACORN registered 43,000 people in Minnesota.”

The Texas Independent, which covered the weekend’s conference, quotes Coleman as saying he still believes “there remain serious questions about how the recount was conducted.”

In addition to Breitbart, featured speakers also include controversial former Federal Election Commissioner Hans A. von Spakovsky, former Department of Justice attorney Christian Adams, self-described “ACORN whistleblower” Anita Moncrief and conservative author/columnist John Fund.

Breitbart has founded several media websites and is a prominent conservative author and commentator for the Washington Times and on television. Spakovsky is now a senior fellow at the Heritage Foundation. The national summit will take place March 25-26; registration for the entire event is $150. Registration is required for members of the media.

The recent statewide event drew about 80 participants and also featured appearances by Adams and Moncrief. Now heading the Election Law Center, Adams resigned from the DOJ over alleged voter intimidation by the New Black Panther Party, accusing the DOJ of racial bias. Moncrief is a spokesperson for conservative group American Majority, publisher of right-wing website EmergingCorruption.com and leader of the new Crispus Attucks Tea Party in Houston, the first minority tea party group in Texas.

During the statewide summit, Moncrief said she planned to connect King Street Patriots leaders with national conservative players in Washington, D.C., which is gearing up for the national Conservative Political Action Conference Feb. 10-12, where Breitbart is also slated to be a featured speaker. Moncrief also said she planned to initiate a national True the Vote project based in D.C.

Overall, despite the best efforts of the Obama administration and Democrats to talk up the pernicious effects of anonymous spending on campaigns, it only seems to have registered for about a quarter of the population, while concerns about voter fraud or vote suppression only caught the attention of about one in five Americans. There’s also a slight partisan trend picked up by the Pew Survey in awareness of both topics — Democrats were slightly more aware of the anonymous spending issue, while Republicans were a good deal more tuned into reports of voter fraud or suppression. This follows naturally from the stated concerns of both parties; a part of me expected that partisan divide to be even bigger.

In Pennsylvania, a computer misread one gentleman’s vote and a polling volunteer—who couldn’t get the damn thing to work—called out to the room full of voters: “Does anyone want to vote for this candidate? Because this guy wants to vote for someone else and we can’t get his ballot to work.” So much for privacy in the voting booth!

And the not-so-funny:

Volunteers have heard news of foul play from people—yet to be identified—who are trying to stop voters from getting to the polls altogether. Election Protection has confirmed that robocalls went out in New Hampshire and Maine yesterday, incorrectly telling voters that they could vote online. Similar calls reported in New Orleans have yet to be verified.

In Kansas, the attorney general’s office has reported robocalls telling voters that election day is tomorrow, and that they must bring a voter-registration card and proof of ownership to their polling places—things that are not required by Kansas election law, which only requires identification for first-time voters.

In Houston, Texas, presumed vote-stoppers are reverting to old-fashioned tactics. A flyer from a fake group called the Black Democratic Trust of Texas—which I have in hand (and by hand, I mean my inbox)—warns voters: “Republicans are trying to trick us! When you vote straight ticket Democratic, it is actually voting for Republicans, and your vote doesn’t count.” Featuring the president’s familiar campaign slogan “Yes We Can!” in bold letters, the flyer goes on to tell voters that the only way to vote for a Democratic ticket is to cast their ballot for gubernatorial candidate Bill White.

Follow her coverage here.