By Nicole Maxwell
Legislation seeking to let voters determine if incarcerated individuals should be allowed to vote passed its first committee Wednesday,
“HJR 10 is a civil rights bill that affirms the 15th Amendment, which is the right to participate in our democracy through our citizen fundamental right to vote,” sponsor Rep. Patricia Roybal Caballero, D-Albuquerque, said during a House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee.
HJR 10 proposes to remove criminal conviction for a felony as a constitutional restriction on voter registration eligibility in New Mexico.
The committee approved the resolution on a 5-to-3 vote.
Reps. Martin Zamora, R-Clovis, and John Block, R-Alamogordo both voiced their opposition to the legislation.
“I hear the argument that it’s disenfranchising these voters, but I don’t necessarily believe… that committing a felony is an immutable characteristic, like race or gender,” Block said.
If the legislation is approved, the issue would go to voters during the next general election.
In 2023, legislation restoring voting rights to those with felonies was signed into law. This affected more than 11,000 formerly incarcerated individuals.
HJR 10 would allow about 5,300 currently incarcerated felons, the press release states.
“Advocates argue that denying the right to vote disproportionately affects Black and Latino communities, diluting their political power and perpetuating systemic racial inequities in the electoral process,” the press release states. If it is passed and approved by voters, New Mexico would be the third state in the country, behind Maine and Vermont to allow incarcerated people to vote.