Muller wins RR school board election following statewide canvass

BERNALILLO — Seth Muller is the winner of a write-in campaign for a seat on the Rio Rancho Public Schools Board of Education.

Muller, a local emergency manager, received 316 votes (64%) against RRPS administrator and write-in candidate Rudy Galindo, who received 174 votes (36%) in the race for the District 1 position, according to a Sandoval County canvassing report, which was finalized Tuesday by the New Mexico State Canvassing Board.

In a prepared statement, Muller wrote, in part, that he is “filled with gratitude” and thanked everyone who supported him in the Nov. 4 election.

“As we move forward, I remain committed to serving with integrity, transparency, and a deep respect for the community we represent,” Muller stated. “There is much work ahead, and I look forward to continuing this journey together.”

Galindo issued a prepared statement wishing “my best” to both sitting and incoming RRPS school board members for their upcoming terms.

“May God bless all of the work you do for the students of our community,” Galindo wrote.

Neither candidate was able to declare victory on election night.

That is because write-in ballots are tallied by hand at a location off site from a polling place because that kind of counting requires special guidance from the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office, according to Sandoval County Deputy Clerk Joey Dominguez.

“I’m not aware of any county clerk that had write-in results on election night — it’s just not feasible,” he said. “When you’re an election administrator, you’ll be surprised at what people write on ballots.”

Before ballots are counted, poll workers program a tabulation machine to divert any write-in ballot, which goes into a designated bin, Dominguez wrote in an email. Poll workers then reconcile the number of diverted ballots from other ones, he wrote.

Once a polling place closes, workers are supposed to place write-in ballots into a purple canvassing bag so that election board members can review them, Dominguez wrote.

But some workers “inadvertently” placed write-in ballots into the normal ballot box instead of the bag, prompting the county clerk’s office to review a judge’s approval to open the affected ballot boxes and retrieve any write-in ballots that were not initially separated, Dominguez wrote.

“This procedural error is not considered critical,” wrote Dominguez. “We take our responsibility to protect the integrity of the electoral process seriously. The public can be confident that every eligible vote is counted accurately and that our office is fully committed to upholding the trust placed in us by the voters of Sandoval County.”

Muller and Garlindo were not the only write-in candidates from Sandoval County.

Phillip Rust received 32 votes (52%) over Patrick Daniel, who received 30 votes (48%) in the race for a seat on the Ranchos de Placitas water and sanitation district director board.

John Kadlecek and William Adams (write-in candidates) received no votes for a seat on the Santa Fe Pojoaque Soil and Water Conservation District board, according to the county canvassing report and results from the SOS website.

Editor's note: This story has been amended to correct the spelling of RRPS District 1 school board candidate Rudy Galindo's name.