Elderly N.M. Couple Takes Ambulance to Vote

June 03--Don't tell Robert Moses you have a valid reason for not voting. The 86-year-old, legally blind, wheelchair-bound Santa Fean was so determined to cast his ballot that he actually had an ambulance pick him up after he voted at Chaparral Elementary School around 12:30 p.m. Tuesday.

"This is a democracy, and a lot of countries don't permit the same voting rights," he said as the ambulance pulled up to give a ride to him and his wife, Agnes, 88, after they voted. "It's time for people to wake up."

He said he had never missed an election since he was a teen, and that's partly because his father, the late John Moses, served as both governor and senator in North Dakota.

But by noon Tuesday, a visit to 10 voting sites around town suggest others were not as committed to the process. Some presiding judges reported numbers as low as 20, while the highest figure -- at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center on Rodeo Road -- still was under 100 per precinct by 12:30 p.m.

A man who identified himself only as Jim said he was the fourth person to vote during the 15 minutes after the polls opened at the Fort Marcy Recreation Complex. "It's important to vote, especially when you want to change things," he said. He is for Gary King in the governor's race because "I think he has the best chance to unseat the current governor."

An informal poll of Democratic voters at several sites indicated a preference for either King or Webber, though one voter, Carla Ortiz, said she decided to support Rael after receiving a voice-mail recording from him late Monday night touting his record.

King may still benefit from name recognition, according to Republican JoAnn Eastham Tapia, who spent the day driving registered seniors from both the Democratic and Republican camp to voting locales within Santa Fe. She said many of the Democrats tell her they will vote for King because of that recognition. "Some of them think it's Bruce," she said, referring to Gary's late father and former governor.

She doesn't care who wins the right to run against Martinez but said, "I hope it's the easiest one for Susana to beat."

Webber, who showed up at Fort Marcy around 7:30 a.m. to greet voters, said he was feeling confident about his success but predicted it will be a late night for those awaiting results in that race, given there are five candidates.

The Santa Fe County Clerk's Office reported a couple of problems by 10:30 a.m. At Ramirez Thomas Elementary School, voters in Precinct 37 discovered that the machines would not accept Democratic ballots for a while. The problem was fixed by midmorning, according to County Clerk Geraldine Salazar.

Presiding judges at that site said that as of 11:45 a.m., 55 voters had cast ballots there.

As of Monday, about 47,300 Democrats and 29,950 Republicans had already cast absentee or early votes, according to the Secretary of State's Office.

In Santa Fe, 5,042 Democrats and 548 Republicans already had cast absentee or early ballots by Saturday. According to the County Clerk's Office, 62,243 Democrats and 16,443 Republicans were eligible to vote in Tuesday's primary election. Voters who register as independents or "declined to state" cannot vote in primary elections.

Roy Padilla, who backed Gus Martinez in the Santa Fe County assessor's race, said his 1941 Dodge Harvester truck was attracting more voters than Martinez on Tuesday. Padilla sat by the truck, which was decorated with American flags and military and patriotic symbols, as well as a Martinez campaign sign, outside the Chavez Center. He said most people passing by were stopping to talk about the truck, not politics.

Padilla, an Army veteran who served during the Korea and Vietnam wars, said he got an offer for $30,000 for the truck Tuesday. He won't sell. But, given the interest in the vehicle, he said the state should have found a way to put it on the ballot in one of the races.

Contact Robert Nott at 986-3021 or rnott@sfnewmexican.com.

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