New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 2, Elections and Terms of Non-Statewide Officeholders Amendment (2020)

New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 2
Election date November 3, 2020
Topic Elections and campaigns
Status a Approved
Type Constitutional amendment	Origin State legislature
List of New Mexico measuresNew Mexico Constitutional Amendment 1New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 2New Mexico Bond Question ANew Mexico Bond Question BNew Mexico Bond Question CSubmit

New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 2, the Elections and Terms of Non-Statewide Officeholders Amendment was on the ballot in New Mexico as a legislatively referred constitutional amendment on November 3, 2020. It was approved.

A "yes" vote supported amending the New Mexico Constitution to allow the state legislature to pass laws adjusting the election dates of state or county officeholders and adjust office terms according to those date changes.

A "no" vote opposed amending the New Mexico Constitution to allow the state legislature to pass laws adjusting the election dates of state or county officeholders and adjust office terms according according to those date changes, thereby not allowing the state legislature to alter established election dates and terms of non-statewide officeholders.

Election results

New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 2
Result		Votes	Percentage
Yes		503,308	64.44%
No		277,744	35.56%

Results are officially certified.

Source

Overview

What changes to election dates and terms did Constitutional Amendment 2 allow?

See also: Text of measure

Constitutional Amendment 2 amended section 3 of Article XX of the state constitution to allow the legislature to pass laws that adjust non-statewide officeholder elections and terms in order to balance the number of offices appearing on the presidential and gubernatorial general election ballots. For the purposes of enforcing term limits on certain offices, terms lengthened by such laws would be considered one term, and terms shortened would not be considered a term. Laws proposing adjustments to election dates of non-statewide officeholders must be supported by a legislative finding that such a change would promote consistency or that it would evenly distribute the number of offices appearing on the ballot.

How did Constitutional Amendment 2 relate to New Mexico House Bill 407?

See also: New Mexico House Bill 407 (2019)

The amendment was a response to State ex rel. Sugg v. Oliver (2019) in which the New Mexico Supreme Court ruled that certain provisions of New Mexico House Bill 407 (2019) (HB 407) were unconstitutional. HB 407 divided non-statewide office elections between ballots with a presidential election and ballots with a gubernatorial election in order to balance the number of offices appearing on the two ballots. District attorneys whose terms would have been lengthened by two years due to the changes filed a suit against the state. New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Barbara J. Vigil ruled in favor of the petitioners and required New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver not to implement the provisions of HB 407 that changed the year certain offices appeared on the ballot. In the court opinion, Vigil wrote, "Assuming, as appears to be the case, that the Legislature wishes to pursue the election-related policy goals sought to be effectuated through the portions of HB 407 that we strike down today, it is its prerogative to propose, and the voters to adopt, a constitutional amendment to that end." The New Mexico Elections and Terms of Non-Statewide Officeholders Amendment is the legislature's attempt to have the constitutional authority to enact HB 407.

Which non-statewide offices were affected by HB 407?

See also: New Mexico House Bill 407 (2019)

In addition to lengthening the terms of district attorneys, HB 407 extended the terms of district court judges, metropolitan judges, the public regulation commission, public education commission, magistrate judges and county officers. The proposed amendment allows the state legislature to pass laws that adjust office terms by no more than two years.

Text of measure

Ballot question

The ballot question was as follows:

“

PROPOSING TO AMEND ARTICLE 20, SECTION 3 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF NEW MEXICO TO PERMIT THE ADJUSTMENT BY LAW OF TERMS OF NONSTATEWIDE ELECTED OFFICERS AND TO STANDARDIZE THE DATE AN OFFICER BEGINS TO SERVE. [ ] FOR [ ]AGAINST

”

Ballot summary

The ballot summary was as follows:

“

Constitutional Amendment 2 proposes to amend Article 20, Section 3 of the Constitution of New Mexico to allow the legislature to adjust the term of a state, county or district officer to align or stagger the election of officers for a particular state, county or district office throughout the state. No statewide elective office would be subject to adjustment. The proposed amendment also clarifies that officers elected to fill a vacancy in office shall take office on the first day of January following their election.

”

Constitutional changes

See also: Article XX, New Mexico Constitution

The introduced text with adopted amendments is below.

The measure amended section 3 of Article XX of the state constitution. The following underlined text was added, and struck-through text was deleted:

Section 3: Date Terms of Office Begin

A.The term of office of every state, county or district officer, except those elected at the first election held under this constitution, and those elected to fill vacancies, shall commence on the first day of January next after his the officer's election.

B. A state, county or district officer elected to fill a vacancy in office shall take office on the first day of January next after the officer's election to serve the remainder of the unexpired term for that office.

C. The term of a state, county or district officer may be adjusted by law to align or stagger officers for a particular state, county or throughout the state. Any such adjustment shall require a legislative finding that the adjustment is to provide for consistency in the timing of elections for that office or to balance the number of offices appearing on the ballot. The term of any officer affected by such adjustment shall not be shortened or extended by more than two years. An extended term shall be counted as one term for the purposes of any limitation on the number of terms an officer may serve. A shortened term shall not be counted as a term and shall be disregarded for the purposes of any limitation on the number of terms an officer may serve. No statewide elective office may be adjusted pursuant to this subsection.

Readability score

See also: Ballot measure readability scores, 2020

Using the Flesch-Kincaid Grade Level (FKGL and Flesch Reading Ease (FRE) formulas, Ballotpedia scored the readability of the ballot title and summary for this measure. Readability scores are designed to indicate the reading difficulty of text. The Flesch-Kincaid formulas account for the number of words, syllables, and sentences in a text; they do not account for the difficulty of the ideas in the text. The secretary of state wrote the ballot language for this measure. The FKGL for the ballot title is grade level 9, and the FRE is 48. The word count for the ballot title is 35, and the estimated reading time is 9 seconds. The FKGL for the ballot summary is grade level 14, and the FRE is 30. The word count for the ballot summary is 82, and the estimated reading time is 21 seconds.

Support

Supporters

Officials

• New Mexico State Senator Daniel Ivey-Soto (D)
• New Mexico State Representative Linda M. Trujillo (D)

Official arguments

• New Mexico Legislative Council Service: "This proposed constitutional amendment, however, would allow the legislature to adjust the number of offices on the presidential or gubernatorial general election ballot without needing to propose a constitutional amendment for each relevant office, thus allowing the legislature to expediently address these election concerns when they arise and preventing the constitution from being filled with temporary provisions. ... The proposed amendment protects against legislative overreach in arbitrarily changing the terms of certain elected officers by requiring the legislature to adopt specific legislative findings supporting an adjustment. In order for the legislature to make an adjustment, the legislature must find that the adjustment is necessary for consistency in the timing of elections for that office or to balance the number of offices appearing on the ballot."

Opposition

If you are aware of any opponents or opposing arguments that should be included here, please send an email with a link to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Official arguments

• New Mexico Legislative Council Service: "The proposed amendment expands the legislature's constitutional power over election policy issues and could be legally challenged. It requires a legislative finding that an adjustment is necessary 'to provide for consistency in the timing of elections for that office or to balance the number of offices appearing on the ballot'. ... As a result of this amendment, some incumbent officeholders will gain an extra two years in office, while others will serve terms that expire two years early for reasons unrelated to their performance. Incumbents seeking reelection after a shortened term could be disadvantaged by the adjustment because they will have had only two years in office to accomplish their goals, gain constituent support and prepare for a reelection campaign. Additionally, during the period when election cycles are being synchronized, term limits will not apply to the affected offices."

Campaign finance

See also: Campaign finance requirements for New Mexico ballot measures

There were no ballot measure committees registered in support of the measure or in opposition to Constitutional Amendment 2.

	Cash Contributions	In-Kind Contributions	Total Contributions	Cash Expenditures	Total Expenditures
Support	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Oppose	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00
Total	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00	$0.00

Media editorials

See also: 2020 ballot measure media endorsements

Ballotpedia identified the following media editorial boards as taking positions on the ballot measure. If you are aware of a media editorial board position that is not listed below, please email the editorial link to editor@ballotpedia.org.

Support

• Albuquerque Journal Editorial Board: "Approval recommended: This proposed constitutional amendment would permit state lawmakers to adjust and stagger the terms of state, county or district officers to ensure uniformity of elections and balance the number of offices in any particular year. The amendment is part of sweeping election law reform that was passed in 2019 to consolidate local elections. It would likely reduce the number of down-ballot judicial candidates every two years, allowing voters more time to focus on those and other races."

Opposition

Ballotpedia had not identified media editorial boards in opposition to the ballot measure.

Background

New Mexico House Bill 407 (2019)

New Mexico House Bill 407 (HB 407) was introduced on January 29, 2019. It was sponsored by Linda Trujillo (D), Daniel Ivey-Soto (D), Roberto Gonzales (D), and Phelps Anderson (R). HB 407 passed in the New Mexico House of Representatives on March 7, 2019, with a 57-8 vote. On March 12, 2019, the New Mexico State Senate passed the bill with a 35-2 vote. Sponsors titled the bill, "Election Laws 50-Year Tune Up." It encompassed a variety of changes to election procedures, candidate and question order on ballots, and administration of special elections.

HB 407 also repealed a number of election laws, including a provision governing when certain elections were held. It replaced this provision with a two-tiered system. In a year with a presidential election, the law required that the following offices be placed on primary and general election ballots:

• president;
• vice president;
• United States senator;
• United States representative;
• state senator;
• state representative;
• supreme court;
• court of appeals;
• public regulation commission districts with odd-numbered designations;

• public education commission districts with odd-numbered designations;
• district court;
• metropolitan court;
• county clerk;
• county treasurer; and
• county commission districts and positions with odd-numbered designations.

In a year with a gubernatorial election, the law required that the following offices be placed on primary and general election ballots:

• United States senator;
• United States representative;
• governor;
• lieutenant governor;
• secretary of state;
• attorney general;
• state auditor;
• state treasurer;
• commissioner of public lands;
• state representative;
• supreme court;
• court of appeals;

• public regulation commission districts with even-numbered designations;
• public education commission districts with even-numbered designations;
• district court;
• district attorney;
• metropolitan court;
• magistrate court;
• county sheriff;
• county assessor;
• county commission districts and positions with even-numbered designations; and
• probate judge.

State ex rel. Sugg v. Oliver (2019)

On June 8, 2019, eight New Mexico district attorneys filed a suit in the New Mexico Supreme Court asking the court to rule HB 407 unconstitutional. Petitioners argued the two-tier election system it established required those district attorneys with a term expiration date of December 31, 2020, to serve two additional years to align their office terms with the new statute. At the time HB 407 was enacted, the New Mexico Constitution required district attorney elections to appear on the 2020 presidential ballot. Under HB 407, elections for district attorneys are moved to the 2022 ballot.

In December 2019, New Mexico Supreme Court Justice Barbara J. Vigil ruled in favor of the petitioners and required New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver not to implement the provisions of HB 407 that changed the year certain offices appeared on the ballot. In the court opinion, Vigil wrote, "We hold that the challenged provisions of HB 407 impermissibly alter the constitutionally prescribed terms of office of the three petitioning groups. In reaching this conclusion, we are of course mindful that the Legislature is vested with broad authority to regulate the timing, process, and conduct of elections. ... That authority, despite its breadth, must be exercised within constitutional limits, a requirement clearly not met here."

Election policy on the ballot in 2020

In 2020, voters in 14 states voted on 18 ballot measures addressing election-related policies. One of the measures addressed campaign finance, one were related to election dates, five addressed election systems, three addressed redistricting, five addressed suffrage, and three addressed term limits.

Click Show to read details about the election-related measures on statewide ballots in 2020.

Election-related policy ballot measures in 2020

Campaign finance See also: Campaign finance on the ballot a Oregon Measure 107: Measure 107 authorizes the state legislature and local governments to (1) enact laws or ordinances limiting campaign contributions and expenditures; (2) require disclosure of contributions and expenditures; and (3) require that political advertisements identify the people or entities that paid for them. Going into the election, Oregon was one of five states with no limits on campaign contributions. Election dates a New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 2: The amendment allowed the state legislature to pass laws adjusting the election dates of state or county officeholders and adjusting office terms according to those date changes. Under the measure, laws proposing adjustments to election dates of non-statewide officeholders must be supported by a legislative finding that such a change would promote consistency or that it would evenly distribute the number of offices appearing on the ballot. Election systems a Alaska Ballot Measure 2: Ballot Measure 2 replaced the state's partisan primaries with open top-four primaries for state executive, state legislative, and congressional offices and established ranked-choice voting for general elections, including the presidential election, in which voters would rank the candidates. Ballot Measure 2 also required persons and entities that contribute more than $2,000 that were themselves derived from donations, contributions, dues, or gifts to disclose the true sources, as defined in the law, of the political contributions. Colorado Proposition 113: In 2019, the Colorado State Legislature passed a bill to add Colorado to the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact (NPVIC). NPVIC member states have agreed to give the state’s electoral votes to the presidential candidate who wins the national popular vote, provided the NPVIC goes into effect. The NPVIC was designed to go into effect if states representing at least 270 electoral votes join the NPVIC. The campaign Protect Colorado's Vote filed a veto referendum to overturn the law, which resulted in Proposition 113. On November 3, voters upheld the law and voted in favor of adding Colorado to the NPVIC. d Florida Amendment 3: Amendment 3 would have replaced Florida's closed primaries with top-two open primaries for elected state offices. Under Amendment 3, all candidates would have run in the same primary election. The top-two candidates, regardless of their partisan affiliation, would have moved on to the general election under Amendment 3. d Massachusetts Question 2: Question 2 would have enacted ranked-choice voting (RCV) for primary and general elections for state executive officials, state legislators, federal congressional representatives, and certain county offices. As of 2020, statewide elections in Massachusetts used a plurality voting system. a Mississippi Ballot Measure 2: As of 2020, Mississippi required that a candidate for governor or elected state office receive the most votes in a majority of the state's 122 state House of Representatives districts (known as the electoral vote requirement). Ballot Measure 2 repealed this requirement. Instead, Ballot Measure 2 provided that a candidate for governor or state office must receive a majority vote to win and that a runoff election would be held between the two highest vote-getters in the event that no candidate receives a majority vote. Redistricting See also: Redistricting measures on the ballot a Missouri Amendment 3: In 2018, Missouri voters approved Amendment 1, the Lobbying, Campaign Finance, and Redistricting Initiative, which created the nonpartisan state demographer responsible for state legislative redistricting. Amendment 3 repealed the nonpartisan state demographer and returned the state to the use of bipartisan redistricting commissions, with changes to the number and selection of commissioners. The 2020 amendment also maintained the criteria of competitiveness and partisan fairness that was enacted in 2018, but it loosened the partisan fairness requirement and required that population, voter rights abridgment, contiguous districts, simple shapes, and the rules for counties be considered with a higher priority. a New Jersey Public Question 3: As of 2020, the New Jersey Constitution required the state legislative redistricting commission to pass a redistricting plan within a month of receiving the official census data. Question 3 postponed state legislative redistricting until after the election on November 2, 2021, should the state receive federal census data after February 15, 2021. The U.S. Census Bureau asked Congress to extend the deadline to deliver census data from April 1, 2021, to July 31, 2021, due to delays related to the coronavirus pandemic. a Virginia Question 1: Question 1 transferred the power to draw the state's congressional and legislative districts from the state legislature to a redistricting commission composed of state legislators and citizens. Going into 2020, the Virginia General Assembly was responsible for drawing the state's congressional and state legislative district boundaries. The redistricting plans were passed as legislation and subject to the governor's veto power. Suffrage See also: Suffrage on the ballot a Alabama Amendment 1: Amendment 1 amended the Alabama Constitution to state that "only a citizen of the United States," rather than "every citizen of the United States," who is 18 years old or older has the right to vote in Alabama. a California Proposition 17: Proposition 17 amended the state constitution to allow people with felonies who are on parole to vote; therefore, the ballot measure kept imprisonment as a disqualification for voting but removed parole status. Going into 2020, the California Constitution disqualified people with felonies from voting until the completion of their imprisonment and parole. d California Proposition 18: Proposition 18 would have allowed 17-year-olds who will be 18 at the time of the next general election to vote in primary elections and special elections. a Colorado Amendment 76: Amendment 76 amended the Colorado Constitution to state that “only a citizen”, instead of "every citizen", of the U.S. who is 18 years of age or older can vote in Colorado. Under the Colorado Votes Act, which went into effect in August 2019, individuals who are 17 years of age at the time of a primary election but who will be 18 years of age at the time of a general election were allowed to register to vote and vote in the primary election. According to the Colorado Blue Book, prevents 17-year-olds from voting. a Florida Amendment 1: Amendment 1 amended the Florida Constitution to state that “only a citizen” of the U.S. who is 18 years old or older can vote in Florida instead of saying that "every citizen" of the U.S. who is 18 years old or older can vote in Florida. Term limits and term lengths See also: Term limits on the ballot a Arkansas Issue 2: Issue 2 changed term limits of state legislators to twelve consecutive years with the opportunity to return after a four-year break. The 12-year limit applied to anyone elected in 2021 or after. Going into 2020, Arkansas legislators could serve up to 16 years throughout their lifetimes in the House or Senate. d Kentucky Constitutional Amendment 2: The amendment would have increased the office terms of commonwealth's attorneys from six years to eight years starting in 2030; increased the office terms of district judges from four years to eight years starting in 2022; and changed attorney licensing requirements for district judges from two years to eight years beginning in 2022. d Missouri Amendment 1: Amendment 1 would have limited the lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state auditor, and attorney general to two terms of office in a lifetime. Going into 2020, the state constitution limited the governor and state treasurer to two terms of office in a lifetime but not the other executive offices.

Referred amendments on the ballot

From 1996 through 2018, the state legislature referred 55 constitutional amendments to the ballot. Voters approved 47 and rejected eight of the referred amendments. Most of the amendments (53 of 55) were referred to the ballot for general elections during even-numbered election years. The average number of amendments appearing on an even-year ballot was four. The approval rate at the ballot box was 85.5 percent during the 22-year period from 1996 through 2018. The rejection rate was 14.5 percent. Two referred amendments were on the ballot in 2018.

Legislatively-referred constitutional amendments, 1996-2018
Years	Total number	Approved	Percent approved	Defeated	Percent defeated	Annual average	Annual median	Annual minimum	Annual maximum
Even years	53	45	84.91%	8	15.09%	4.42	5.00	1	9
Odd years	2	2	100.00%	0	0.00%	0.18	0.00	0	2
All years	55	47	85.45%	8	14.55%	2.29	1.50	0	9

Path to the ballot

See also: Amending the New Mexico Constitution

To put a legislatively referred constitutional amendment before voters, a simple majority is required in both the New Mexico State Senate and the New Mexico House of Representatives.

This amendment was introduced as House Joint Resolution 8 on January 29, 2020. On February 15, 2020, the state House passed HJR 8 in a vote of 59-10, with one absent. Forty-four Democrats voted for it, one voted against it, and one was absent. Of the 24 Republicans in the House, 15 voted in favor of HJR 8, and nine voted against it.

On February 20, 2020, the New Mexico Senate approved HJR 8, with 29 members supporting the amendment and 13 members opposing the amendment. All the Senate Democrats voted in favor of it, and all but three Republicans voted against it. With approval in both chambers of the legislature, the constitutional amendment was referred to the ballot for the election on November 3, 2020.

Vote in the New Mexico House of Representatives February 15, 2020
Requirement: Simple majority of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 36  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	59	10	1
Total percent	84.29%	14.29%	1.42%
Democrat	44	1	1
Republican	15	9	0

Vote in the New Mexico Senate February 20, 2020
Requirement: Simple majority of all members in each chamber
Number of yes votes required: 22  a
	Yes	No	Not voting
Total	29	13	0
Total percent	69.05%	30.95%	0%
Democrat	26	0	0
Republican	3	13	0

How to cast a vote

See also: Voting in New Mexico

Click "Show" to learn more about voter registration, identification requirements, and poll times in New Mexico.

How to cast a vote in New Mexico

The information below covers regular voting policies in the state. Information may have not applied to the election on November 3, 2020, because of temporary changes in response to coronavirus. Click here to read about changes made for the 2020 elections. Poll times In New Mexico, all polls are open from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. Mountain Time on Election Day. An individual who is in line at the time polls close must be allowed to vote. Registration requirements Check your voter registration status here. To register to vote in New Mexico, each applicant must be a citizen of the United States, a resident of New Mexico, and at least 18 years old by the time of the next election. People convicted of a felony are eligible to vote after their prison time is completed, even if they are still on probation, parole, or another form of supervised release. Individuals who have been declared mentally incapacitated may not register to vote. Potential New Mexico voters who were not registered automatically may use the New Mexico voter registration form, the national voter registration form, or the state's online voter registration portal to register. Completed registration materials may be mailed or delivered by hand to election officials. To register online, an applicant must have a state-issued ID. First-time applicants registering by mail must attach a valid form of identification to their registration materials, which includes a current and valid photo identification, or, a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, student identification card or other government document, including tribal IDs that show the voter's name and current address. Automatic registration See also: Automatic voter registration New Mexico has automatic voter registration. Eligible voters are automatically registered to vote when they interact with a department of motor vehicles unless they opt out. Online registration See also: Online voter registration New Mexico has implemented an online voter registration system. Residents can register to vote by visiting this website. Same-day registration See also: Same-day voter registration New Mexico allows same-day voter registration. Residency requirements In New Mexico, individuals can register to vote as soon as they become residents of the state. Verification of citizenship See also: Laws permitting noncitizens to vote in the United States New Mexico does not require proof of citizenship for voter registration. An individual must attest that they are a U.S. citizen when registering to vote. All 49 states with voter registration systems require applicants to declare that they are U.S. citizens in order to register to vote in state and federal elections, under penalty of perjury or other punishment. Seven states — Alabama, Arizona, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, New Hampshire, and Wyoming — have laws requiring verification of citizenship at the time of voter registration, whether in effect or not. In three states — California, Maryland, and Vermont — at least one local jurisdiction allows noncitizens to vote in some local elections. Noncitizens registering to vote in those elections must complete a voter registration application provided by the local jurisdiction and are not eligible to register as state or federal voters. Verifying your registration The New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office allows residents to check their voter registration status online by visiting this website. Voter ID requirements New Mexico does not require voters to present identification while voting, in most cases. However, if an individual registered to vote for the first time by mail and did not provide verification of his or her identity then, the voter will have to show identification. Those voters can present the following forms of identification: Current and valid photo identification Current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, student identification card, or other government document, including identification issued by an Indian nation, tribe, or pueblo that shows the voter’s name and current address Some municipalities require identification when voting in local elections. Click here for more information.

See also

2020 measures

• 2020 ballot measures
• Elections and campaigns on the ballot

New Mexico

• New Mexico ballot measures
• New Mexico ballot measure laws

News and analysis

• Ballot measure lawsuits
• Ballot measure readability
• Ballot measure polls

External links

• Full Text of HJR 8
• 2020 General Election Voter Guide