Americans Elect, a national organization touted as a computer-age alternative to "hyper-partisanship" and special-interest dominance in electoral politics, took a step forward Monday by submitting petition signatures to get on the ballot in New Mexico.

Patricia Pallares of Bosque Farms, who has been active in the group, said she brought in petitions with 6,891 signatures to the Secretary of State's Office.

State Bureau of Elections Director Bobbi Shearer said a minor political party needs a little more than 3,000 signatures to get on the ballot. Shearer said her staff will determine how many of Americans Elect's signatures are valid in about a week or 10 days.

Ken Ortiz, the secretary of state's chief of staff, said if enough of the group's signatures are verified, Americans Elect will join the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian and New Mexico Independent parties on the ballot in November.

Americans Elect was established last year as a way to get average citizens — not the bases of the major parties — involved in the nominating process. All registered voters in the country — and who have access to a computer — are allowed to become delegates.

Chief Operating Officer Elliot Akerman, in an interview last month, told The New Mexican that Americans Elect will determine a platform of issues via debates and votes on the Internet. Delegates will determine which candidate best matches the platform.

Finalists then must choose their vice presidents. A running mate cannot be someone who belongs to the same party of the presidential candidate. In June, delegates will vote on an online convention to see who will be the Americans Elect presidential candidate.

The two most prominent politicians who publicly have expressed interest in running are New York developer and reality television star Donald Trump and former Louisiana Gov. Buddy Roemer, whose longshot bid for the Republican nomination never gained traction.

Pallares, who took in the signatures, said Monday she's a registered Democrat. "I'm doing this to double my chances to have a candidate I want to vote for in November," she said.

Asked what candidates she'd like to get the Americans Elect nod, Pallares said she likes Roemer, as well as Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va. Warner has not shown any indication he'd run as a third-party candidate. Pallares also said she likes former Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman, who currently is running in the Republican primaries.

All three of the candidates Pallares mentioned are considered moderates. "Ideologues have lost the ability to compromise," Pallares said. A good moderate Americans Elect candidate, she said, would tell the major parties they can't take moderates for granted.

Twelve states already have put Americans Elect on the general election ballot. The most recent was California, the largest state in the country. The other states include Ohio, Florida, Michigan, Colorado, Nevada — all considered battleground states for the presidency — as well as Arizona, Arkansas, Utah, Alaska, Mississippi and Kansas.

Americans Elect has been criticized by the left and the right on some aspects of its organization.

One issue is transparency. The organization is classified under the tax code as a 501(c)(4) "social welfare" group, meaning its contributors are not reported publicly.

Another is the group's Candidate Certification Committee, a three-member panel that must approve candidates for the online convention. President Obama's top political strategist David Axelrod recently remarked on this aspect of Americans Elect, saying, "It's like uber-democracy meets backroom bosses."

Contact Steve Terrell at 986-3037 or sterrell@sfnewmexican.com. Read his political blog at roundhouseroundup.com.