I am writing today to announce the closure of the New Mexico Independent. After three and a half years of operation in New Mexico, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news…
While environmental activists played their part yesterday during demonstrations at the capitol building, going so far as to dress up as solar panels and to sing the tune of “You Are My Sunshine,” their counterparts, the anti-cap-and-trade contingency who has…
Roughly one quarter of University of New Mexico students are unimpressed with the state’s flagship public school, according to a survey that questioned college students about their higher education experiences.
This week’s decision by the U.S. Supreme Court that Indiana is within its constitutional right to demand photo identification from voters on Election Day won’t affect New Mexico this year. But House Minority Whip Dan Foley, R-Roswell, said Wednesday he and other supporters of a strict voter ID law hope its strengthens their case in 2009.
Foley, a supporter of a requiring voters to show photo IDs, said the Supreme Court’s ruling will bolster the hand of advocates during next year’s day legislative session while weakening a principle argument made by opponents. And, for that reason, he predicts the issue will jump front and center.
"Every time we have a bill that says you need a driver’s license, (opponents) say it’s unconstitutional and that’s
the end of the debate," Foley told the Independent. "I think we have the law of the land at our backs. These people who have said this is unconstitutional, it’s disenfranchising, they have been dealt a death blow by the Supreme Court."
"We’ve been vindicated," Foley said of past efforts by supporters to pass such a law.
But House Speaker Ben Lujan, D-Santa Fe, said this week’s ruling won’t create enough groundswell to change New Mexico’s law because a photo ID law would suppress votes, especially among New Mexico’s Native American and elderly populations.
"We put in place a system that requires that a voter be given an opportunity to show different types of information. Because of our diverse population, especially native Americans and the elderly, it would be prohibitive to do what Mr. Foley wants," Lujan said.
Under current state law, a voter in New Mexico can present several types of ID, including an original or copy of a photo ID or an original or copy of a utility bill, bank statement or government check. If no such document can be produced, then the voter can state his or her name, year of birth and unique identifier, the statute reads.
