HOUSE BILL 163

50th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2011

INTRODUCED BY

Thomas A. Anderson

AN ACT

RELATING TO ELECTIONS; REQUIRING PERSONS WHO SIGN NOMINATING PETITIONS TO LIST THEIR VOTER REGISTRATION ADDRESS.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 1-8-2 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1969, Chapter 240, Section 152, as amended) is amended to read:

     "1-8-2. NOMINATION BY MINOR POLITICAL PARTY--CONVENTION-DESIGNATED NOMINEES.--

          A. If the rules of a minor political party require nomination by political convention:

                (1) the chair and secretary of the state political convention shall certify to the secretary of state the names of their party's nominees for United States senator, United States representative, all elective state offices, legislative offices elected from multicounty districts, the public regulation commission, all elective judicial officers in the judicial department and all offices representing a district composed of more than one county; and

                (2) the chair and secretary of the county political convention shall certify to the county clerk the names of their party's nominees for elected county offices and for legislative offices elected from a district located wholly within one county or that is composed of only one county.

          B. The names certified to the secretary of state shall be filed on the twenty-first day following the primary election in the year of the general election and shall be accompanied by a petition containing a list of signatures and addresses of voters totaling not less than one percent of the total number of votes cast at the last preceding general election for the office of governor or president of the United States, as the case may be:

                (1) in the state for statewide offices; and

                (2) in the district for offices other than statewide offices.

     The petition shall contain a statement that the voters signing the petition are residents of the state, district, county or area to be represented by the office for which the person being nominated is a candidate.

          C. The names certified to the county clerk shall be filed on the twenty-first day following the primary election in the year of the general election and shall be accompanied by a petition containing a list of signatures and addresses of voters totaling not less than one percent of the total number of votes cast at the last preceding general election for the office of governor or president of the United States, as the case may be:

                (1) in the county for countywide offices; and

                (2) in the district for offices other than countywide offices.

     The petition shall contain a statement that the voters signing the petition are residents of the state, district, county or area to be represented by the office for which the person being nominated is a candidate.

          D. Persons certified as nominees shall be members of that party before the day the governor issues the primary election proclamation.

          E. No voter shall sign a petition prescribed by this section for more persons than the number of minor party candidates necessary to fill the office at the next ensuing general election.

          F. A person who signs a petition required by this section or Section 1-8-3 NMSA 1978 shall indicate the person's address as shown on the person's certificate of registration. If the person does not have a residential address, the person may provide the person's mailing address."

     SECTION 2. Section 1-8-31 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1973, Chapter 228, Section 5, as amended) is amended to read:

     "1-8-31. PRIMARY ELECTION LAW--NOMINATING PETITION--SIGNATURES TO BE COUNTED.--

          A. A person who signs a nominating petition shall sign only one petition for the same office unless more than one candidate is to be elected to that office, and in that case a person may sign not more than the number of nominating petitions equal to the number of candidates to be elected to the office.

          B. A person who signs a nominating petition shall indicate [his residence as his] the person's address as shown on the person's certificate of registration. If the person does not have a residential address, [he] the person may provide [his] the person's mailing address.

          C. A signature shall be counted on a nominating petition unless there is evidence presented that the person signing:

                (1) was not a registered member of the candidate's political party ten days prior to the filing of the nominating petition;

                (2) failed to provide information required by the nominating petition sufficient to determine that the person is a qualified voter of the state, district, county or area to be represented by the office for which the person seeking the nomination is a candidate;

                (3) has signed more than one petition for the same office, except as provided in Subsection A of this section, or has signed one petition more than once;

                (4) is not of the same political party as the candidate named in the nominating petition as shown by the signer's certificate of registration; or

                (5) is not the person whose name appears on the nominating petition.

          D. The procedures set forth in this section shall be used to validate signatures on any petition required by the Election Code, except that Paragraphs (1) and (4) of Subsection C of this section shall not apply to petitions filed by unaffiliated candidates or petitions filed by candidates of minor political parties."

     SECTION 3. EFFECTIVE DATE.--The effective date of the provisions of this act is July 1, 2011.

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