Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver last month introduced Senate Bill 8, also known as the New Mexico Voting Rights Act, which is intended to “protect and expand New Mexico voting rights.”
According to a release by the New Mexico governor’s office, this includes expanding online voter registration, providing further protections of native voters and also creating a permanent absentee ballot request list. While Grisham has said that protecting voting rights is essential to uphold democracy, the New Mexico Business Coalition has created a petition to the bill, saying that the Senate bill is worse than the Federal Voting Rights Bill that failed four times in Congress. The petition says, “what is too dangerous for Congress, the governor thinks is just right for New Mexico.”
“New Mexico's SB 8 Voters' Rights Provisions raises significant constitutional and legal issues, but is being fast-tracked,” New Mexico Business Coalition President Carla Sonntag told the New Mexico Sun.
Sonntag pointed out that the bill recently passed out of Senate Rules on a straight party-line vote of 7-4. She explained that lawmakers said the language would be changed to allow 17-year-olds, but not 16-year-olds, to vote as it was originally drafted.
Sonntag said SB 8 was originally assigned to only the Finance Committee. Because of the significant changes to the law proposed, members of the public and Senate Republicans raised the issue that the bill should be sent to the Senate Judiciary Committee. One Democrat supported this recommendation, along with all Republicans.
“Unfortunately, the final vote of 6-5 failed to get the support needed to have that recommendation carried forward,” Sonntag said. “Subsequently and with continued public outcry, the Senate has changed the committee assignment to include a hearing in Senate Judiciary.”
The petition said the lengthy bill spanning more than 50 pages is full of issues of concern.
“The critical point is that SB 8 will not make it easier to vote, but it will make it easier to cheat and must be stopped,” the petition states.
According to the press release by the governor’s office, the legislation has several parts. The first is to increase voter access by designating Election Day as a state holiday. Originally it was set up to allow 16-year-olds to participate but even while this has been changed to 17-year-olds, it is opposed by the petition which says they are still minors and cannot be held in the same standard as adults.
It also creates a permanent absentee voter list allowing people to voluntarily receive mail ballots without needing to make a request. The petition opposes this also, saying it is without consent.
The bill also expands online voter registration by allowing people without a driver’s license to register online by using their full social security number.
The bill supports native voting access by expanding the timeline for nations, tribes and pueblos to alternative voting sites. It is also set up to improve voter registration through a system providing a mechanism for people top be automatically registered to vote through completing transaction at the Motor Vehicles Division.
The bill also enables nominating petition signatures to be submitted electronically and restores voting rights to those convicted of a felony that are not incarcerated.
“Protecting voting rights is essential to upholding our democracy and ensuring New Mexicans’ voices are heard,” Grisham said. “It is more important than ever to safeguard access to the ballot box – while voting rights are under attack across the country, New Mexico is taking every action to protect and expand them.”