Forensic audit of 2020 election finds no fraud in Otero County

Otero County and EchoMail, the company contracted to conduct a forensic audit of the 2020 General Election, reached a settlement agreement over a dispute of the worth of the partial audit submitted by the company.

“Whereas, it is the position of EchoMail they fulfilled their obligations under the contract and found no election fraud as a result of their services,” the settlement and release of all claims states.

On March 17, EchoMail sent Otero County a “limited analysis they had conducted thus far,” Otero County Attorney R.B. Nichols said. “We had to come to an agreement as to how much that was worth.”

The contract agreement between the County and EchoMail was for $49,750. Otero County paid EchoMail the first half of the contracted amount, $24,875, on Feb. 24.

On April 15, Otero County asked for a refund of $15,125 which is the difference between the $24,875 payment and the amount the County felt was the value of services rendered.

“We didn’t believe the work that EchoMail had produced was covered by the half we already paid after talking to them, we were able to get a refund of $15,125,” Nichols said. “So, we spent just under $10,000 on the work that they did do for us.”

EchoMail disputed the claim that they only did $9,750 worth of work. The company said it created an integrated data warehouse and analyzed voter registrations and ballots cast at the precinct level.

At a May 9, the Otero County Commission Nichols said the relationship between the County and EchoMail was strained by the controversy and national attention of the audit.

“(The audit) process started and there was a lot of controversy: Congress weighed in, the House Oversight Committee sent letters to (EchoMail President and CEO) Dr. Shiva (Ayyadurai),” Nichols said.

“Based on that, I believe EchoMail made a determination that they didn’t want to be involved in some of the controversy, the political nature of the issues essentially.”

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Nichols said despite the closure of its contract with EchoMail, an “independent analysis” of voters in Otero Count by New Mexico Audit Force may continue.

New Mexico Audit Force is run by former New Mexico State University professor David Clements and his wife Erin Clements.

Both Clements came under scrutiny after a video of canvassers interacting with an Otero County woman was forwarded to the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office, New Mexico Attorney General’s Office and the Lt. Governor’s Office.

The Secretary of State and New Mexico Attorney General’s Offices issued a voter risk advisory because of it and the receipt of complaints.

The Clements are expected to do their own audit, including continuing the door-to-door canvass, and present findings to Otero County both at the May 9 regular meeting and at future Otero County Commission meetings.

The U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Reform began an investigation into EchoMail and New Mexico Audit Force in March. The Committee sent a letter to Ayyadurai about the canvassers.

Ayyadurai responded that a door-to-door canvass was not part of the contract EchoMail had with Otero County.

“EchoMail has no canvassers be it in Otero County or any other part of the country or world,” a March 18 response letter from Ayyadurai to the Committee states. 

However, documentation about the contract posted to the Otero County website as part of the Jan. 13 meeting packet states that EchoMail would “Perform door-to-door canvass of Otero County voter registration database to determine accuracy of voter registration database. Canvass will be staffed by volunteers under the direction of New Mexico Audit Force (“Volunteers”) with guidance from EchoMail.”

EchoMail agreed to pay the $15,125 back to Otero County within 30 days of the settlement and release of all claims execution by both parties.

Otero County is expected to ratify the settlement and release of all claims at its regular meeting Thursday, May 12.

The settlement and release of all claims also releases both EchoMail’s and Otero County’s differences, dismiss claims against each party in this issue and release both parties from liability in this issue.

Nicole Maxwell can be contacted by email at nmaxwell@alamogordonews.com, by phone at 575-415-6605 or on Twitter at @nicmaxreporter. If you have questions about your subscription, please contact Customer Service at  AlamogordoDailyNews@Gannett.com or call 1-877-301-0013.