Clerk’s Office Awards and Achievements

Awards

The Santa Fe County Clerk’s Office has been recognized nationally for innovation in election administration, voter education, accessibility, and civic engagement.

2026

• 2026 Election Verification Network (EVN) Innovation Award - Machine-Assisted Hand Tally for designing and piloting a machine-assisted hand tally system in technical partnership with ROBIS, first implemented in the 2024 General Election and then used again during the 2025 Regular Local Election.
• 2026 Election Center People's Choice Award - Calm at the Polls: Engaging Families and Communities to De-Escalate Early Voting for engaging families and community partners to create a calmer, more welcoming early voting experience.
• 2026 Election Center People's Choice Award - Machine-assisted Hand Tally: Santa Fe County's Digital Accuracy and Bipartisan Verification for strengthening accuracy and transparency through a bipartisan, technology-supported hand tally verification process.

2024

• 2024 Election Center Guardian Award - Project Bruno: Tabulator Security Program for implementing a first-of-its-kind pilot program to protect election tabulators from physical theft, tampering, and unforeseen disruptions.
• 2024 NACo Achievement Award: Civic Engagement and Public Information - Candidate Training Webinar for enacting a comprehensive candidate training to reduce errors that may disqualify candidates from the ballot. In the 2024 Primary, the number of disqualified candidates reduced to zero in Santa Fe County.
• 2024 NACo Achievement Award: County Resiliency: Infrastructure, Energy, and Sustainability - Clerk's Office Online Records Portal for establishing a 24/7, easy-to-use online portal for constituents to view and purchase records online from the comfort of their homes. These efforts have also significantly reduced in-person traffic and wait times at the Clerk's Office.
• 2024 NACo Achievement Award: Information Technology - Tabulator Security Program for establishing a robust cybersecurity initiative ensuring continuity of operations for vital election equipment.

2023

• 2023 NACo Achievement Award: Arts Culture & Historic Preservation - "I Voted" Sticker Design Contest for implementing a unique program to engage young people, encourage creativity, and celebrate New Mexico's unique and rich culture.   
• 2023 NACo Achievement Award: Civic Engagement and Public Information - Democracy 101 for giving Santa Fe County area high school students the opportunity to register/pre-register to vote, meet with and learn from the County Clerk and staff, and participate in a mock election with real election tabulators.
• 2023 NACo Achievement Awards: Personnel Management - Election Worker Mentorship and Debrief Programs for empowering all election workers to voice their feedback about their experiences, giving our office the opportunity to learn and grow in future elections.
• 2023 EAC Clearinghouse Award - "First-Time Voter" and "Future Voter" Sticker Design Contests for expanding on an existing youth outreach program to further engage youth voters in Santa Fe County. Despite an overall decrease in turnout, youth turnout % actually increased in 2024.
• 2023 EAC Clearinghouse Honorable Mention - Project Bruno: Tabulator Security Program for establishing a robust cybersecurity initiative ensuring continuity of operations for vital election equipment.
• 2023 EAC Clearinghouse Honorable Mention - Mentorship, Feedback, and Debriefing for Election Workers for empowering all election workers to voice their feedback about their experiences, giving our office the opportunity to learn and grow in future elections.

2022

• 2022 EAC Clearinghouse Honorable Mention - Improving ADA Accessibility for going above and beyond ADA requirements to empower voters with disabilities, and to ensure maximum throughput at the busiest sites.

2021

• 2021 EAC Clearinghouse Award - "I Voted" Sticker Design Contest for implementing a unique program to engage young people, encourage creativity, and celebrate New Mexico's unique and rich culture.   

Other Achievements

Records & Recording

• 480,000 files have been scanned in since taking office in 2021; the digitalization of Clerk's office real estate records, which began in 2004, is now complete
• Online real estate records portal, which takes card payment, can be used to purchase records and receive them in email inboxes nearly instantly
  • This portal also significantly decreased in-person traffic at the office, allowing for constituents to be assisted more quickly

Bureau of Elections

• Improving Access
  • Installed 8 absentee drop boxes in Santa Fe County, 5 of which are drive-up accessible
  • Took additional steps to ensure ADA compliance at each polling site
  • Established an elections help desk for voters and election workers
  • SantaFe.vote, our elections page, is now a central hub for information about all elections in Santa Fe County
  • Voters can track wait times at each polling site in real-time at SantaFe.vote
  • Our busiest site, the County Fairgrounds, now handles up to 350 voters an hour with little to no wait
  • Hired an Outreach Coordinator to manage events, social media, and the website
• Efficiency
  • Implemented instant chat messaging between polling sites and staff, and established a ticketing system for much faster reponse to polling sites during the election
  • Created a training and certification program for newly hired messengers
  • New envelopener machines prevent damage to ballots (from a 4% damage rate to 0%)
  • Streamlined HR hiring process for poll workers, and new training and tracking softwares
  • Cooperating with USPS to cut lost ballots by nearly 90%
  • Using a sophisticated inventory management system for warehouse organization and supply management
• Security
  • Customized chain of custody, which has now been implemented in several other counties
  • First county in New Mexico to use GPS tracking for ballot transport, and ensuring ballots never sit over night at polling sites
  • Each drop boxes is monitored by 24 hour video surveillance
  • Absentee ballot processing location has armed guards, ensuring there is no interference with ballots