Rep. John Block recently told the New Mexico Sun that he opposes the New Mexico Voting Rights Act because it mandates "extreme new policies."
House Bill 4, the New Mexico Voting Rights Act, advanced in the New Mexico House on Feb. 21 with 41-26 vote. It is currently awaiting a vote in the Democrat-controlled State Senate.
"I oppose H.B. 4," Block said. "The bill mandates extreme new policies, such as creating an automatic absentee voter list that would strip critical protections meant to hold sacred our right to vote. Furthermore, H.B. 4 would automatically register every New Mexican to vote at the Motor Vehicle Division whenever they get a driver’s license or make a renewal."
Block said residents would be forced to opt out by mail if they no longer want to be registered to vote.
"Other problematic portions of the bill would automatically let felons vote and mandate universal drop boxes while not ensuring people who are in jail — who still have the right to vote — can cast a ballot," he said.
New Mexico Democrats first introduced the omnibus pro-voting bill on Jan. 27, according to the Democracy Docket. A similar bill supported by Democrat Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, was introduced during the 2022 legislative session, but failed to pass.
Toulouse Oliver believes that the current version of the bill is better than 2022's "because it has really been spearheaded and brought to life by the advocacy community," she said, according to a Source New Mexico article.
The New Mexico Business Coalition (NMBC) strongly opposes HB 4. NMBC President Carla Sonntag published a letter arguing that the legislation would endanger both voting rights and voting system integrity in many ways, including automatically registering voters without their consent, increasing the likelihood of non-U.S. citizens being registered to vote and giving full voting rights to felons prior to completion of parole/probation.
The coalition said the bill would also allow government building addresses to be used for ballots of anyone registered to vote on Indian nation, tribal or pueblo land, and provide for a person hired by the state to go to the Indian nation, tribal or pueblo lands to “help” people vote. The hired person would then return the ballot to a voting location, which violates personal and statewide privacy and ballot security.
According to the NMBC letter, the bill would create a permanent absentee voter list, which would ruin secure absentee voting practices.
“Permanent Absentee Voter rolls will increase issues for removal,” Sonntag wrote. “New Mexico has not adequately cleared its voter rolls in decades, and this will make it worse. It will also create additional problems with ballots being delivered to an address after the person is deceased or has moved."
Block also stated that the bill would have a drastic impact on voter integrity.
"The bill would be a disaster for election integrity by purging critical provisions in New Mexico’s election law that protect our right to vote," Block said. "Instead, it would open the floodgates to manipulation of our elections by stripping necessary provisions that protect election security."
While the bill would not allow voting by non-U.S. citizens, it does enable convicted felons who are still on probation or parole.
Block discussed the difference between the same bill proposed in 2022.
"H.B. 4 is a completely different beast than the failed 2022 bill in the sense that it covers much different ground. However, many of the bad ideas in the failed bill, such as universal drop boxes, have been duplicated," Block said. "Our right to vote is sacred, and measures to further erode election integrity are an attack on New Mexican’s most fundamental freedoms that are protected in our Constitution."
Block represents District 51/Otero County, according to the New Mexico Legislature website. He is a conservative reporter and runs the Piñon Post, a news site that focuses on politics and current events.