FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

7 October 2020

Contact:

Alex Curtas, Director of Communications

New Mexico Office of the Secretary of State

505-469-2783

alex.curtas@state.nm.us

Statement by Sec. of State Toulouse Oliver Following Reports of Election Misinformation on Facebook Today

SANTA FE – Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver released the following statement today following reports of election misinformation on Facebook that were received by our Office:

“We received reports today of a post on Facebook by a local New Mexico group claiming that Governor Lujan Grisham was planning to shut down polling locations throughout the state on October 15, 2020. This information is completely false. Absentee voting and early in-person voting at county clerks’ offices began yesterday, with wider early voting locations opening on October 17th. In-person voting will be available in all 33 counties throughout the entire early voting period and on Election Day, Tuesday, November 3rd. My Office is in continual contact with representatives from all the major social media platforms, as well as with our federal partners like the FBI and the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, and examples of misinformation like this one are reported immediately. Though it’s unfortunate that only a day after the start of early voting in New Mexico we are already seeing misinformation, it provides a good opportunity to remind the public to be extra vigilant about any voting or election information that does not come from a verified source like your county clerk or my Office.”

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