ALBUQUERQUE -- Senate Republicans have asked New Mexico Attorney General Gary King (D) to check whether transactions made by embattled former Secretary of State Rebecca Vigil-Giron (D) are legal.

The Secretary of State's office under Vigil-Giron overspent its most recent budget by $2.5 million to $3 million, according to a preliminary investigation by the state Department of Finance and Administration (DFA).

New Mexico Governor Bill Richardson has now ordered the DFA to do "a thorough audit" of the secretary of state's budget and transactions. Vigil-Giron, who left office at the end of last year, blamed the overspending on a new paper-ballot electoral system.

Richardson also suspended Vigil-Giron from a controversial state job posting that had drawn fire even from inside her own Democratic party.

The Republicans' letter to King cited a request this year by the new Secretary of State, Mary Herrera, for a $3 million supplemental appropriation to meet "expenses associated with the general election and the Help America Vote Act."

Vigil-Giron's estimated $2.5 million in overspending last year "may have been purposely entered into contrary to state law," the Republicans' letter later points out. "An investigation by your independent office is necessary to determine the propriety of [Vigil-Giron's] financial activities."

Richardson has also postponed Vigil-Giron's appointment to her new position as Executive Director of the New Mexico Film Museum. He said she will not take up her new duties, announced only last week, until after the audit is complete.

In protest at the announcement, State Senator Shannon Robinson last Thursday withdrew his sponsorship from a bill sought by Richardson to create a new Media Arts and Entertainment Department. The bill now has no "champion" in the legislature to argue its case.

Robinson said he was upset at Vigil-Giron's appointment because she had "no concept of the film industry and no links to it."