Monday, April 11, 2022New Mexico Election Record Being Lauded At US House Hearing Today; State Cited As National Leader In Ballot Access As Other States Face Anti-Voter Laws New Mexico has a hard time keeping up with the nation in multiple categories but ensuring the right to vote is not among them. While always room for improvement, the state's impressive voting rights record is being recognized at a US House subcommittee hearing in Santa Fe today featuring NM Reps Teresa Leger Fernandez and Melanie Stansbury. And during these exceptionally polarizing times over voter access in so many states New Mexico is being recognized for getting it right and serving as an example to the nation: The Subcommittee on Elections of the Committee on House Administration will hold a hearing, “Voting in America: Access to the Ballot in New Mexico” to discuss how the state has expanded access to the ballot over the past years, and examine further advances to voting in the state. . . Voter turnout was at a record high in 2020, but since the election, a wave of anti-voter laws have been advanced by many state and local governments across the country. In contrast, New Mexico has maintained and pushed for election practices to ensure every voter has access to the ballot box. The state employs many election policies that improve and expand access to the ballot such as automatic voter registration, online voter registration, same-day registration, early in-person voting, and no-excuse absentee voting. The Subcommittee aims to collect information regarding the efficacy of these programs in New Mexico as it compiles evidence to support adopting similar, national standards for voting access. The days of yore when tales of ballot box stuffing, voting the dead and pulling drunks off barstools to vote are long gone. There is still work to do, particularly in improving voting access for Native Americans in remote rural areas. But progressive groups fighting a national fight not a New Mexico one, got ahead of themselves when they unsuccessfully proposed at the recent legislative session a voting reform measure that included allowing 16 year olds to vote in certain elections and allowing convicted felons to vote upon release from prison instead of having them wait until they are off of probation or parole. A more focused bill at next year's session is awaited. As for New Mexico election results, when we first started out in the mid-70's, one of the favorite stories at the watering holes (apocryphal it is hoped) went like this: One of the campaigns concerned about the long delayed vote count in Rio Arriba County gets a county election official on the phone and asks: "How many votes does our candidate have up there"? The official responds: "How many do you need?" True or not, that's a reminder of how far we've come in the Land of Enchantment advancing and protecting the integrity of our elections. Today's House subcommittee hearing begins at 10 a.m. and will be streamed here. ALASKA AND NM  Joe, When I saw your headline "NM Goes Alaska" I immediately thought of the fact that Alaska is the first state to adopt a unified, open primary with the top four vote getters going to the General where ranked choice voting will be used. Let's hope we go Alaska. It will be fascinating to see how this new approach impacts their upcoming special election with Sarah Palin one of 50 running for a vacant US House seat and how it plays out in their primary and general elections this year. Imagine 50 people running without this creative, new reform? Someone would get elected with a very small percentage of the vote. Now Alaskans are guaranteed a winner with a majority of the vote-a mandate to govern. What a thought! And former Alaskan Nancy Cliff came with these thoughts: The role model for excess oil/gas revenues should be Norway not Alaska. The 49th State made an obscene number of bad economic decisions funding ridiculous projects, some of which rivaled the Road to Nowhere. As a result when the price of crude oil dropped recently, the bean counters were looking under the sofa cushions. Another mistake not to be emulated is repealing instead of suspending the state income tax. Legislators breathed a collective sigh of relief when the oil price spiked recently. Norway, on the other hand, has made judicious use of small percentages of the pot of gold and kept the rest for future emergencies. Not pie in the sky. This is the home of New Mexico politics. E-mail your news and comments. (newsguy@yahoo.com) Interested in reaching New Mexico's most informed audience? Advertise here.   (c)NM POLITICS WITH JOE MONAHAN 2022 |
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