Ruling expected today on whether magistrate judge can be on Democrats’ June primary ballot

A state district judge is expected to issue a decision Friday in the case of a magistrate judge disqualified from running for re-election in the Democratic Party primary after what she claims was a mix-up at a driver’s license office.

Doña Ana County Magistrate Judge Samantha Madrid has said her voter registration was changed from Democrat to independent without her knowledge when she obtained a copy of her driver’s license last year.

Only when Madrid was preparing to file this month for re-election did the County Clerk’s Office inform her she could not run as a Democrat.

A lawyer representing Madrid argued she never intended to change her registration and that keeping her out of the primary election after about 500 Democrats had signed her nominating petition would disenfranchise those voters.

But a lawyer for the Doña Ana County clerk countered there was no way for Madrid’s registration to have been changed without her approval.

And besides, the clerk’s office argued, she could still run as an independent. Madrid would otherwise be unopposed in the election this year.

State District Judge David Thomson expressed unease about disqualifying Madrid over what she says is an error and questioned why she would have changed her voter registration at an MVD Express, of all places, given that she is an elected official who has always been registered to vote as a Democrat.

But Thomson did not issue a decision on Thursday, saying he intended to rule on Friday.