Quay vote remains unchanged in land commission race

QCS Staff

While the statewide recount in the New Mexico land commissioner race is still not complete, Quay County’s re-tallying Thursday left the vote count unchanged .

Quay County recorded 639 votes for Republican challenger Aubrey Dunn and 332 votes for Democrat incumbent commissioner Ray Powell.

Statewide, Powell received 704 fewer votes than Dunn out of about 500,000 votes cast in the first canvass of the Nov. 4 general election. The difference was less than one-half of 1 percent, which means a recount is required under state law.

Incumbent Commissioner Ray Powell asked the court to intervene in the recount, which caused two delays, The Associated Press reported.

Ellen White, Quay County’s chief deputy clerk, said the main issue in the court actions was how many test ballots should be counted in each machine to determine accuracy.