Voting machines are tested. The ballots are ready. Critical issues like abortion and the economy generate votes.

The integrity and security of elections raises doubts.

“It really puts a microscope on the work that we do,” said New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver.

4 investigations went to areas all over the metro wanting to hear from New Mexicans. I asked two simple questions: do you intend to vote and will you trust the election results?

What we found surprised us. In every corner of our city, people had doubts about the security of our elections. I have conveyed these concerns to the state’s highest election official.

Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said the biggest change was not the work but the focus.

“Because there has been, there has been so much misinformation and disinformation about our election process that has been spread over the last few years,” she said.

People I spoke to in neighborhoods in Albuquerque and Rio Rancho bear this out when asked if they trust the electoral process.

“I don’t know, the way things are lately, you can’t help but wonder, you know?”

“New Mexicans should have absolute confidence in our electoral process,” said Toulouse Oliver.

The Secretary of State points to a MIT studywhich ranks New Mexico’s election administration process as the best in the nation.

Despite recent attacks on ballot boxes in Oregon and Washington, she said the boxes in New Mexico are secured and monitored 24/7.

“They are also inviolable. So if someone tried to take a baseball bat to one of them, threw a rock at it, there are alarms going off. So the county clerks know something is going on,” Toulouse Oliver said.

Still, the Mexicans I spoke to believe there are ways to cheat the system.

In 2019, election workers caught the wife of an Española city councilor forging signatures on absentee ballots.

Years before, 4 Investigates uncovered an alcohol-for-vote trade in northern New Mexico.

“I have not seen, in the 18 years that I have been conducting elections, where this type of activity, nefarious activity or illegal activity has affected the outcome of the election,” Toulouse Oliver said.

Toulouse Oliver said the county clerk is around the state verifying absentee ballot signatures and making sure there are no dead people on the voter rolls.

But some people point out that about a third of states don’t require it Voter IDincluding New Mexico.

“We’re able to provide all that integrity, but we’re also able to balance that with affordability. It is possible to have a perfectly safe, perfect electoral process, and this is a system where no one votes. Right, that’s the only way to guarantee it. There is nothing to guarantee that the ID you show me is yours. We’ve all heard of fake IDs,” said Toulouse Oliver.

I also heard about the non-citizen vote.

“Honestly, you know, this is something that comes up every election cycle,” Toulouse Oliver said.

The Supreme Court just allowed Republican officials in Virginia to remove 1,600 voters from its rolls. Democrats argued that legal voters were also kicked out.

“We check both the driver’s license number and the social security number against the motor vehicle division’s database,” Toulouse Oliver said.

Toulouse Oliver even testified before Congress about the election security rumors.

“This false information led to increased threats and harassment electoral workers. Many at this table have personally experienced that,” Toulouse Oliver told members of Congress.

This election comes with a warning from U.S. intelligence agencies, putting local law enforcement on high alert for threats from homegrown extremists to candidates, elected officials and poll workers.

“Our democracy and its health depend on every eligible voter getting out and casting their ballot,” she said.

The Secretary of State has been talking about this for four years. There are more of our interviews online, including information on how the state audits its election results and how New Mexico makes sure its owners’ voting machines are secure.