New Mexico Amendment 1, Allow School Elections to Be Held with Other Nonpartisan Elections Measure (2014)

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New Mexico Amendment 1

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Election date

November 4, 2014

Topic
Local government officials and elections and Public education governance
Status

ApprovedApproved

Type
Legislatively referred constitutional amendment 		Origin

State legislature


New Mexico Amendment 1 was on the ballot as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment in New Mexico on November 4, 2014. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported allowing school elections to be held at the same time as nonpartisan elections, rather than requiring them to be held separately from all other elections.

A "no" vote opposed allowing school elections to be held at the same time as nonpartisan elections, thereby maintaining the requirement that school elections be held separately from all other elections.


Election results

New Mexico Amendment 1

Result Votes Percentage

Approved Yes

258,673 57.68%
No 189,783 42.32%
Results are officially certified.
Source


Text of measure

Ballot title

The official ballot text appeared as follows:[1]

“ 1. A Joint Resolution proposing to amend Article 7, Section 1 of the Constitution of New Mexico to provide that school elections shall be held at different times from partisan elections.


For ____________ Against ____________[2]

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article VII, New Mexico Constitution

The measure would have amended Section 1 of Article VII of the Constitution of New Mexico to read:[3]

[Section 1.]

A. Every citizen of the United States who is over the age of twenty-one years and has resided in New Mexico twelve months, in the county ninety days, and in the precinct in which [he] the person offers to vote thirty days, next preceding the election, except idiots, insane persons and persons convicted of a felonious or infamous crime unless restored to political rights, shall be qualified to vote at all elections for public officers. The legislature may enact laws providing for absentee voting by qualified electors. All school elections shall be held at different times from [other] partisan elections.

B. The legislature shall have the power to require the registration of the qualified electors as a requisite for voting and shall regulate the manner, time and places of voting. The legislature shall enact such laws as will secure the secrecy of the ballot and the purity of elections and guard against the abuse of elective franchise. Not more than two members of the board of registration and not more than two judges of election shall belong to the same political party at the time of their appointment.[2]


Support

Supporters

Officials

Senate

Amendment 1 received unanimous support in the New Mexico Senate.[4]

House

In the New Mexico House of Representatives, the following state representatives voted to place the amendment on the ballot:[5]

Arguments

The New Mexico Legislative Council Service provided arguments for and against the constitutional amendment. The following were the council's arguments in support:

“ 1. Separate school elections no longer necessary.

The reason for the prohibition against holding school elections in conjunction with other elections no longer exists. Women have had the right to vote in all public elections in New Mexico since 1920.

2. May increase voter participation.
At least in recent years, voter turnout for school elections has tended to be very low. This may be partly due to "voter fatigue". In some New Mexico counties, voters may be faced with numerous elections in a given year. Reducing the number of elections by allowing school and other nonpartisan elections to be combined might, therefore, increase overall voter participation.

3. May lower costs for school districts.
If adopted, school districts could choose to lower their costs by holding their elections in tandem with other nonpartisan elections. [2]

”
—New Mexico Legislative Council Service[3]

Opposition

Opponents

Officials

House

In the New Mexico House of Representatives, the following state representatives voted against placing the amendment on the ballot:[5]

Arguments

The New Mexico Legislative Council Service provided arguments for and against the constitutional amendment. The following were the council's arguments against:

“ 1. Does not allow school elections during regular November general elections; may be unfairly combined with other elections.

The proposed amendment is too limited. It continues the prohibition against holding school elections in conjunction with partisan elections; however, the regular November general elections are always partisan elections. Therefore:

1) combined election dates will typically be limited to municipal and special district elections. Often, school district boundaries extend over several municipalities and special districts, which may hold their local elections on different dates. Choosing to combine a school district's election day with one municipality would unfairly favor the voters in that community over the other voters within that school district; and
2) adopting the proposed amendment would continue to bar school districts from the potential opportunities for cost savings and increased voter participation resulting from holding their elections in conjunction with November general elections.

2. Diluted focus.
Setting school elections aside from all other elections permits the focus of public discussion on education issues. It allows voters to learn about school board candidates, school bonds and education ballot initiatives without the distraction of competing issues.

3. Diluted impact of knowledgeable voters.
Current voter turnout for school elections is likely determined by the number of people who are more interested in, and informed about, education issues. Allowing school elections to be combined with other nonpartisan elections dilutes the impact of knowledgeable voters in exchange for incremental cost savings for school districts.

4. Ballots too long and confusing.
Allowing combined nonpartisan elections will make those ballots longer and potentially confusing to voters. [2]

”
—New Mexico Legislative Council Service[3]

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the New Mexico Constitution

According to Article XIX of the New Mexico Constitution, a simple majority was required in the legislature to refer the amendment to the ballot. HJR 2 was approved in the New Mexico House on February 14, 2013.[5] The amendment was approved in the New Mexico Senate on March 16, 2013.[4]

House vote

February 14, 2013 House vote

New Mexico HJR 2 House Vote
ResultVotesPercentage
Approveda Yes 50 87.72%
No712.28%

Senate vote

March 16, 2013 Senate vote

New Mexico HJR 2 Senate Vote
ResultVotesPercentage
Approveda Yes 40 100.00%
No00.00%

Similar measures

See also

External links

Additional reading

Footnotes

  1. ↑ New Mexico Secretary of State, "Constitutional Amendments," accessed April 3, 2014
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source. Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content Cite error: Invalid <ref> tag; name "quotedisclaimer" defined multiple times with different content
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 New Mexico Legislative Council Service, "Summary of and Arguments For and Against the Constitutional Amendments Proposed by the Legislature in 2013 and 2014," accessed September 11, 2014
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 New Mexico Legislature, "HJR 2 Final Senate Passage," accessed April 3, 2014
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 New Mexico Legislature, "HJR 2 Final House Passage," accessed April 3, 2014
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