Secretary of State Mary Herrera pushed back Thursday against her former elections director's allegations of cronyism and violations of the state Governmental Conduct Act.

Through her lawyer, Herrera claimed that A.J. Salazar didn't quit his job over ethical concerns but because Herrera had denied him time off he had requested.

In a Feb. 26 letter of resignation, Salazar said one reason he quit was fear that he would lose his license to practice law if he continued working in Herrera's office.

"I am unwilling to risk my professional reputation or my license to practice law by continuing to work in an office that engages in questionable, if not illegal practices," wrote Salazar, a former assistant district attorney in Northern New Mexico.

But Albuquerque lawyer Sam Bregman told a reporter that wasn't the real reason Salazar quit.

"He wanted to take spring break off," Bregman said. "He just didn't want to work, and anything contrary to that is just wrong. It had nothing to do with ethics and had everything to do with the fact he didn't want to work."

In a phone interview, Salazar vehemently denied the allegation and said Bregman's charge proved what Salazar's resignation letter said about Herrera retaliating against him.

"I believe there is ample evidence to prove that I have been retaliated against by you and by the deputy secretary for attempting to remedy the numerous ethical and legal issues within this office," the letter states.

Bregman provided a copy of an e-mail exchange between Herrera and Salazar that took place Feb. 25, the day before Salazar resigned.

Salazar requested one day off in early March plus four days off later in the same month so that he could take care of his children during their spring break from school. Salazar said he would work March 16, which is filing day for state election candidates, and was willing to work the weekend before that in order to prepare.

Herrera responded that because of filing day and preparation for training of county clerk staff members, she couldn't give him all those days off.

Salazar then e-mailed a response saying, "Alright, ma'am, I am not a good fit for this position in your office. I would like to meet with you tomorrow afternoon to tender my resignation. Thank you." Bregman pointed out that there were no ethical concerns mentioned in those e-mails.

Salazar resigned the next day, leaving a scathing letter that contains an array of allegations.

Some of those charges became public last week. Salazar accused Herrera of soliciting donations from companies that contract with her office in order to sponsor a workshop.

He also said Herrera ordered some of her exempt employees to gather signatures on petitions for her re-election campaign. And he said Herrera had accused him of "going over her head" when he sought legal advice from the Attorney General's Office regarding possible ethical violations.

Herrera's office refused to release the resignation letter to reporters — even though Attorney General Gary King said he believed it was a public document. But a copy of the letter appeared Wednesday on the Web site of The Rio Grande Sun, the Española weekly newspaper. Salazar confirmed Thursday that copy was authentic.

"I stand by everything I said in that letter," he said.

"Your administration engages in political activity in the office, during work hours," Salazar's letter says. "This is completely inappropriate coming from any elected official — especially from the chief elections officer of the state.

Salazar stated that he had "repeatedly" voiced his concerns about political activity. "For example, when your campaign manager appeared to be doing campaign business in your office on filing day (for statewide candidates), I asked that he step outside the office and remain with the other filers in the halls of our building."

Salazar wrote that all exempt secretary of state employees "were called into your office in October 2009 during work hours and were ordered to get 1,000 petition signatures each for your re-election campaign. We even discussed this at our management meeting in January. Clearly this is a violation of election laws and presents a serious appearance of impropriety."

A spokesman for the office said Herrera wouldn't comment on the specific charges.

The letter said Deputy Secretary of State Francisco Trujillo had undermined him and told the elections administrator not to report to Salazar. Trujillo on Thursday wouldn't comment on Salazar's allegations.

Also in the letter, Salazar charged that for political reasons Herrera refused to discipline an information technology employee who allegedly hacked into the secretary of state's computer system.

Salazar wrote that a state information technology expert on loan to Herrera's office had recommended the employee be fired. However, Herrera did nothing because the employee's wife "is a political supporter of yours," Salazar told Herrera in the letter.

Lynn Harris, who is in charge of information technology at the state Environment Department, had been brought in to investigate another IT employee who no longer works in the office.

Harris declined to confirm or deny that she recommended such a firing. "That's an internal personnel matter," she said. "I made a number of recommendations." But when asked whether Salazar made any inaccurate statements involving her in his letter, which she said she had read, Harris said no.

Neither the employee nor his wife could be reached for comment.

Salazar also claimed Herrera has failed to protect the chain of custody of voting machines and that there is a lack of security in the machines' storage. "Many of these machines, set to be used in the upcoming elections, are being stored without contract and without a valid chain of custody, which would ensure the absence of tampering," Salazar wrote.

He said an assistant attorney general had raised this issue, "yet her advice was flatly ignored." Salazar said he tried to discuss the matter with Herrera but that her "response that 'we own the machines' did not address these identified serious concerns.' "

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