Timeline: Accusations of Voting Fraud in New Mexico

Here's a timeline of alleged voter fraud in New Mexico by U.S. News Librarian Jennifer L. Jack. Check back with us tomorrow for more details on how this is shifting the dynamics of the story.

Aug. 15, 2004: Bernalillo County Clerk Mary Herrera brings suspicious voter registration forms to the attention of U.S. Attorney David Iglesias's office in New Mexico. The county's sheriff, Darren White, asked Iglesias to investigate voter registration. White is also the Bernalillo County chair for the Bush-Cheney presidential campaign.

Sept. 7, 2004: New Mexico District Judge Robert Thompson rejects a request by Republicans to require first-time voters to present identification at the polls. He says, "The 11th-hour request by the plaintiffs creates the risk of substantially disrupting the public voting process, which far outweighs any potential harm to the plaintiffs." One of the plaintiffs in the case is the father of a 13-year-old boy whose name appeared on the voter registration rolls.

Sept. 7, 2004: Iglesias announces the establishment of a voter fraud task force to investigate complaints about election fairness. It is to include members from his office, the U.S. Department of Justice criminal division, the FBI, the New Mexico Department of Public Safety, and the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office. He says, "It appears that mischief is afoot and questions are lurking in the shadows."

Sept. 12, 2004: Dozens of completed voter registration forms, most reportedly from newly registered Republicans, are stolen in a burglary at the Albuquerque office of the New Voters Project, a nonpartisan voter registration group.

2005: Allen Weh, the New Mexico Republican Party chairman, complains about Iglesias to an employee of Karl Rove and asks that he be removed from office.

October 2006: Iglesias receives a telephone call from Republican Rep. Heather Wilson and is asked about sealed indictments in the corruption case against Democrats. Her question "raised red flags in my head," according to Iglesias.

October 2006: Iglesias has a brief telephone conversation with Republican Sen. Pete Domenici in which he tells the senator that indictments against Democrats in a corruption case regarding courthouse construction projects would not be handed down before the November election. The conversation ends abruptly when Domenici hangs up. "I felt sick afterwards," says Iglesias.

Nov. 2, 2006: Domenici accuses New Mexico Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron, a Democrat, of playing politics for choosing not to hire an outside auditor to check the general election results. New Mexico switched to a paper ballot system for this election.

Nov. 22, 2006: Wilson wins re-election to the House by 875 votes.

Late 2006: Weh visits the White House and asks Rove again about Iglesias. Weh claims that Rove remarked, "He's gone."

Dec. 7, 2006: Iglesias is asked to resign. The spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office says that Iglesias "has had discussions with officials in Washington, D.C. Based on those discussions, he has decided to move on."

Sources: Albuquerque Journal, Albuquerque Tribune, Knight Ridder, Los Angeles Times, The Associated Press, The Washington Post.