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 bill that would require voters to show identification at polling sites for elections was held over for another day in the House Voters and Elections Committee on Tuesday. The bill, which is supported by Gov. Susana Martinez and Secretary of State Dianna Duran, was the focus of passionate debate in the committee. A vote on the bill is expected by the committee on Thursday.
The bill, sponsored by Dianne Hamilton, R-Silver City, will likely be replaced with a committee substitute, according to the KUNM Government Project.
“We need to have voter ID implemented before going into 2012 elections in order to assure that every person who appears at that polling place is the person they say they are,” Duran said, according to the Daily Lobo.
Republicans have long said there is widespread voter fraud. Former U.S. Attorney David Iglesias looked into voter fraud allegations but said that he could not find any evidence that would have been enough to get a conviction in court.
Some states have been wary of instituting new voter ID laws because of the cost. The Taxation and Revenue Service did not respond to the Legislative Finance Committee for the fiscal impact report, but the fiscal impact report says, “In Missouri and Wisconsin similar legislative voter identification initiatives have been proposed and accompanying fiscal impact analysis indicate significant associated costs.”
The Attorney General’s office said, according to the fiscal impact report, that the bill would face a number of potential legal challenges. One is that there’s no ID requirement for those using absentee ballots. Another is that the bill does not require IDs with photos on tribal lands because tribal identifications do not have photos.
The Attorney General’s office says the bill also twice conflicts with the federal Help America Vote Act.
First, HAVA requires all voters who offer to vote in the county in which they believe they are registered to receive a ballot. This bill creates an automatic interposition of an election challenge, without amending the challenge statute to provide for resolution through a provisional ballot. Second, the registration requirement in HB 308 for first time registrants in the state who register by mail violates the standards in HAVA.
The Associated Press reported, “Although the county clerks opposed Hamilton’s bill, they are divided on whether voter identification should be required.”
