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.
A federal judge may rule in a lawsuit which claims New Mexico’s 2005 voter registration laws are "unduly restrictive," according to a report in the Albuquerque Journal today.
U.S. District Judge James O. Browning said he would issue a ruling soon after speaking at length with prosecution and defense attorneys.
The American Association of People With Disabilities, Federation of American Women’s Clubs Overseas, New Mexico Public Interest Research Group Education Fund and the SouthWest Organizing Project are the groups who filed the lawsuit and say:
they’ve been forced to curtail their previously active voter registration efforts because of the impact of the law, which they say has a chilling effect on political speech. The groups sued in state court, but the state moved it to federal court because of constitutional issues involved.
A Las Cruces Sun-News report from the time of the filing explains the stringency of the 2005 law:
New Mexico’s law limits organizations to 50 registration forms at a time, requires groups to record registrars with the secretary of state and provide information on them and give registrations to county clerks within 48 hours. Registering ineligible voters is subject to a $500 fine and-or up to six months in jail.
The report states that this week the Republican party, two legislators and a country clerk, "asked to become intervenors on the side of the Secretary of State’s Office in defense of the statute."
Browning set a hearing for August 29th to decide what measures may be taken but the report noted that, "he may rule on the merits of the preliminary injunction request before that."
