One bill advances, another tabled in voter ID discussion

The House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee voted to pass one bill related to voter ID, while the more strict version was tabled. However, lawmakers on the panel hinted that portions of the stricter bill will appear in the next version of the legislation that passed. The committee saw two different bills related to […]

One bill advances, another tabled in voter ID discussion

The House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee voted to pass one bill related to voter ID, while the more strict version was tabled. However, lawmakers on the panel hinted that portions of the stricter bill will appear in the next version of the legislation that passed.

Photo via Flickr by Erik (HASH) Hersman
Photo via Flickr by Erik (HASH) Hersman

The committee saw two different bills related to voter ID on Saturday in a lengthy hearing.

The first—called a compromise bill by sponsors Rep. James Smith, R-Sandia Park, and Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto, D-Albuquerque—passed on a party-line 6-5 vote with Republicans in favor.

The other, a more strict voter ID bill—was sponsored by Rep. Cathrynn Brown, R-Carlsbad—was tabled on an 8-3 vote, with three Republicans voting against it.

Ivey-Soto, who presented HB 61, said, “There is no systematic voter fraud in the state of New Mexico.”

He said that there was anecdotal fraud, but it was not widespread.

“I believe that even one vote that is falsely cast is harmful to the system,” Brown said, later saying just because a crime is rare that doesn’t mean they shouldn’t have laws to stop it.

“I have never said that voter fraud is systematic or systemic,” Brown said near the end of the committee hearing. “But it can happen under the current law.”

Democrats argued that it was a solution in search of a problem or at the very least an overreaction.

“The voter suppression that a significant voter ID bill would cause severely outweighs the one-in-a-million voter fraud issue that occurs,” Rep. Moe Maestas, D-Albuquerque, said.

Rep. Eliseo Alcon, D-Milan, wasn’t happy that the legislation comes back year after year.

“We’re killing 700 trees to save nothing,” he said. “Because it’s not happening in New Mexico. I’m tired of it.”

Voter ID has been a perennial issue by Republicans in the House of Representatives, but one that was usually quickly tabled in the first committee when controlled by Democrats. However, with the takeover of the House of Representatives by Republican members, Voter ID has suddenly become legislation that is likely to reach the House floor and likely pass.

The committee amended HB 61 twice before sending the bill to the next committee.

One would change a requirement of absentee voters to provide a full social security number as one mode of identification for absentee ballots to the last four digits of the social security number.

The other amendment added a component asking the Secretary of State to “conduct a statewide effort” to educate the public about the need for new identification. That language came from HB 340 and other language from that bill could find its way to the bill during its next stop in the House Judiciary Committee.

Shortly before the committee voted on the two bills, Brown said she would be open to “combine the best elements of both” pieces of legislation to craft a stronger bill. She did say repeatedly she beleived her version was the stronger and more effective version.

The Secretary of State’s office said this statewide effort could include television, radio and other advertisements statewide.

Democrats, and many voting rights advocates, said the effort would make turnout even lower than it was in 2010, when the state saw record-low turnout. They said that the state should not be adding additional barriers to voters.

Republicans said that the state legislature and federal government had made many efforts to make voting easier and perhaps that was the reason why voters believed their votes didn’t count.

“I think if it’s a little bit harder, then their vote would mean more,” Rep. Dianne Hamilton, R-Silver City, said. Rep. Kelly Fajardo, R-Belen, later said she wondered if people didn’t believe their votes counted because

Rep. Jane Powdrell-Culbert, R-Corrales, said that she didn’t believe minorities would be effected by the legislation.

“I don’t know any African-American that does not have an ID with their picture on it,” Powdrell-Culbert, herself an African-American, said.

Rep. Sharon Clahchischilliage, R-Shiprock, said that the idea that Native Americans don’t have photo identification is outdated.

“Say a decade or two decades ago, this indeed was true,” she said. “A lot of our people did not have photo IDs because a lot of people weren’t driving. A lot of people now are driving.”

Clahchischilliage was also part of an exchange with Alcon over the voter ID laws of the Navajo Nation.

Rep. Ken Martinez, D-Grants, said that he knew people who had no ID or access to a birth certificate. “They’re not mythical, they’re real,” he said.

Martinez, a lawyer, said he represented people who had no birth certificate, driver’s license or tribal ID, which under the bills would likely disqualify them from voting. When he represented them, he said baptismal certificates were the only identification information they had.

The president of the New Mexico County Clerk’s Affiliate said that the county clerks supported the less strict version and opposed the bill put forward by Brown.

Ken Ortiz, the chief of staff for the Secretary of State’s office said, Dianna Duran and her office supported Brown’s bill and opposed the bill put forward by Smith and Ivey Soto.

We're ad free

That means that we rely on support from readers like you. Help us keep reporting on the most important New Mexico Stories by donating today.

Related

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List, a nonprofit that supports women candidates and reproductive rights, endorsed seven incumbents facing general election opponents in New Mexico legislative elections. All…
Equality New Mexico endorses 15 legislative candidates

Equality New Mexico endorses 15 legislative candidates

A New Mexico-based LGBTQ rights organization endorsed 15 candidates for state House and Senate seats for the 2024 elections.  Marshall Martinez, executive director of…
Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Lujan Grisham pocket vetoes two bills

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham pocket vetoed two bills the legislature passed this legislative session: one changing the Cybersecurity Act and the other concerning law…
BLM announces final methane waste rule

BLM announces final methane waste rule

The federal Bureau of Land Management announced its final methane waste rule on Wednesday. These new regulations clamp down on the practice of venting…
What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

Migrating birds appear to have caused a virus in dairy cattle that is causing reduced milk production. So far, the disease, which initially started…
Republicans seek to limit national monument designations

Republicans seek to limit national monument designations

Republican-backed legislation in the U.S. Congress would make it harder for the government to designate new national monuments. The proposed Congressional Oversight of the…
Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

Amid new graduation requirements, what do high schoolers want to learn?

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican The main things that bring Brayan Chavez to school every day: Seeing, talking to and engaging with…
Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

Special ed teachers hope lawmakers OK pay raises, admin changes

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican Brittany Behenna Griffith has a laundry list of adjectives to describe the ideal special education teacher:…
Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

Lawmakers must find consensus on competing education spending plans

By Margaret O’Hara, The Santa Fe New Mexican A challenging task awaits New Mexico lawmakers in the next 30 days: Reconciling three very different…
Health workers fear it’s profits before protection as CDC revisits airborne transmission

Health workers fear it’s profits before protection as CDC revisits airborne transmission

Amy Maxmen, KFF Health News Four years after hospitals in New York City overflowed with covid-19 patients, emergency physician Sonya Stokes remains shaken by…
Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Lujan Grisham, Biden admin announce $10 million in federal funds for tribes, pueblos

Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham announced Friday $10 million in funding from the federal American Rescue Plan Act was awarded to six tribal nations and…
Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

Proposal to curb executive powers moves to House Judiciary

The House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee discussed a potential constitutional amendment that seeks to limit the governor’s executive powers. The committee approved…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

Lawyers from the conservative Christian group that won the case to overturn Roe v. Wade are returning to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in pursuit…
Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Supreme Court to hear two abortion cases this spring

Later this month, the U.S. Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the case against the abortion medication mifepristone. It will hear a second…
New Mexico Medicaid to cover cost of over-the-counter oral contraception

New Mexico Medicaid to cover cost of over-the-counter oral contraception

New Mexico Medicaid announced on Wednesday that it will cover the cost of Opill, the first oral contraception approved for over-the-counter use. It is…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

At stake in mifepristone case: Abortion, FDA’s authority, and return to 1873 obscenity law

Lawyers from the conservative Christian group that won the case to overturn Roe v. Wade are returning to the U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday in pursuit…
San Juan County, Navajo Nation settle redistricting case

San Juan County, Navajo Nation settle redistricting case

The Navajo Nation and San Juan County reached an agreement Monday about commission districts after the tribe alleged that its members were not adequately…
MIT ranks NM elections most well-run in the U.S.

MIT ranks NM elections most well-run in the U.S.

New Mexico’s 2022 election was ranked most well-run in the country by Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s Election Data and Science Lab’s Elections Performance Index.…
Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List endorses seven candidates for Legislature

Emily’s List, a nonprofit that supports women candidates and reproductive rights, endorsed seven incumbents facing general election opponents in New Mexico legislative elections. All…
BLM announces final methane waste rule

BLM announces final methane waste rule

The federal Bureau of Land Management announced its final methane waste rule on Wednesday. These new regulations clamp down on the practice of venting…
U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

U.S. Supreme Court hears case to restrict access to medication abortion

The U.S. Supreme Court heard the case about the regulations around mifepristone, one of a two-step regime for abortion medication, on Tuesday. FDA v.…
What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

What consumers, farmers should know about the flu impacting dairy cows

Migrating birds appear to have caused a virus in dairy cattle that is causing reduced milk production. So far, the disease, which initially started…

GET INVOLVED

© 2023 New Mexico Political Report