SENATE BILL 434
48th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2007
INTRODUCED BY
Clinton D. Harden
AN ACT
RELATING TO IRRIGATION DISTRICTS; ALLOWING BOARDS OF DIRECTORS TO USE MAIL-IN BALLOTS FOR CERTAIN ELECTIONS.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. Section 73-9-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1919, Chapter 41, Section 6) is amended to read:
"73-9-6. ELECTION RESULTS--EFFECT--HOLDOVERS--CHANGE OF DIVISIONS, PRECINCTS AND POLLING PLACES.--The [said] board of county commissioners shall meet on the second Monday [next] after such an election and canvass the votes cast [thereat; and]. If it appears upon [such] the canvass that at least two-thirds of the qualified electors voting at [said] the election [have] voted "Irrigation District--Yes", the [said] board shall, by order duly entered upon the records, declare [such] the territory duly organized as an irrigation district under the name and style [theretofore] designated [and]. It shall declare the persons receiving respectively the highest number of votes for director to be duly elected to [such] that office. [Said] The board shall cause a copy of [such] the order, including a plat of [said] the district, duly certified by the clerk of the board of county commissioners, to be immediately filed for record in the office of the county clerk of each county in which any portion of [such] the lands are situated [and]. No board of county commissioners of any county [including] that includes any portion of [such] the district shall, after the date of organization of [such] the district, allow another district to be formed [including] that includes any of the lands of [such] the district without the consent of the board of directors [thereof; and from and] of it. After the date of [such] the filing, the organization of [such] the district shall be complete, and [the] its officers [thereof] shall immediately [enter upon] assume the duties of their respective offices upon qualifying in accordance with law and shall hold [such] those offices respectively until their successors are elected and qualified. The boundaries of [said] the divisions, [and the] voting precincts and polling places in any [such] district may, after [such] the first election, be changed by order of the board of directors of the district; provided that, unless the board decides that an election shall be by mail-in ballot, the polling places shall be designated in the notice published for every election in the district."
Section 2. Section 73-9-10 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1919, Chapter 41, Section 8) is amended to read:
"73-9-10. LOCATION OF OFFICE--SECRETARY--ELECTION PROCEDURES--NOTICE OF ELECTIONS--BOARD.--
A. The office of the board of directors shall be located in the county where the organization was effected. B. For any election, subsequent to the organization of the district, in which a director is elected, for any bond election or for any refunding bond election, the board may select an election procedure with in-person voting or with all mail-in ballots. In an election for which the board has selected in-person voting, the procedures of Subsection C of this section shall be followed. In an election for which the board has selected mail-in ballots, the procedures of Section 73-9-10.1 NMSA 1978 shall be followed.
C. In an election for which the board has selected in-person voting, the following procedures shall be followed:
(1) fifteen days before any election held under [this act, subsequent to the organization of the district] Chapter 73, Article 9 NMSA 1978, the secretary, who shall be appointed by the board of directors, shall cause notice, specifying the polling places of each precinct, to be posted in three public places in each election precinct, of the time and place of holding the election and shall also post a general notice of the same in the office of [said] the board, which shall be established and kept at [some] a fixed place to be determined by [said] the board in [said] the county;
(2) prior to the time for posting the notices, [said] the board [must] of directors shall appoint from [each precinct, from the electors thereof] the electors of each precinct three judges, one of whom shall act as clerk, who shall constitute a board of election for [such] that precinct. If the board fails to appoint a board of election or the members appointed do not attend the opening of the polls on the morning of election, the electors of the precinct present at the hour may appoint the board or supply the place of an absent member [thereof] of it;
(3) the board of directors [must] shall, in its order appointing the board of election, designate the hour and the place in the precinct where the election [must] shall be held;
(4) one of the judges shall be chair of the board of election and may:
(a) administer all oaths required in the progress of any election; and
(b) appoint judges and clerks, if during the progress of the election any judge or clerk ceases to act;
(5) any member of the board of election, or any clerk of the board, may administer and certify the oaths required to be administered during the progress of an election;
(6) before opening the polls, each member of the board of election shall take and subscribe an oath to faithfully perform the duties imposed upon the member by law. An elector of the precinct may administer and certify the oath;
(7) the polls shall be opened at 8:00 a.m. on election day and be kept open until 6:00 p.m. on the same day; and
(8) the clerk of the board of election shall immediately deliver the returns duly certified to the board of directors of the district."
Section 3. A new Section 73-9-10.1 NMSA 1978 is enacted to read:
"73-9-10.1. [NEW MATERIAL] MAIL-IN BALLOTS--PROCEDURE.--If the board of directors selects all mail-in ballots for a director election, a bond election or a refunding bond election, the election shall be conducted pursuant to the following procedures:
A. the board of directors shall appoint one person from each of the three precincts as a board of election for the election;
B. the board of election shall mail each qualified elector of the district a ballot along with a statement that there will be no polling place for the election;
C. the ballot shall be mailed to each qualified elector no earlier than the thirty-fifth day prior to the election, and the mailing shall be completed by the fifth day before the election;
D. the board of election shall include in the mailing a printed notice to the electors informing them that the ballots shall be returned by mail;
E. the board of election shall prepare a checklist of qualified electors in the district. Immediately upon receipt of a ballot, the checklist shall be marked indicating that a qualified elector has returned the ballot;
F. the board of election shall mark on each mailing envelope the date and time of receipt and safely keep the envelope unopened in a locked ballot box until it is opened; and
G. the board of election board shall accept mailing envelopes until 7:00 p.m. on election day. Any mailing envelope received after that time shall not be placed in the ballot box but shall be separately preserved until the time for election contests has expired. In the absence of a restraining order after expiration of the time for election contests, the board of election shall destroy all late official mailing envelopes without opening or permitting the contents to be examined, cast, counted or canvassed."
Section 4. Section 73-9-12 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1919, Chapter 41, Section 10) is amended to read:
"73-9-12. DETERMINING AND DECLARING ELECTION RESULTS--PLURALITY ELECTS.--
A. No list, tally paper or certificate returned from any election shall be set aside or rejected for want of form if it can be satisfactorily understood.
B. The board of directors [must] shall meet at its usual place of meeting on the first Monday after election and canvass the returns. At the meeting, if the election was by mail-in ballot, the board of election shall deliver the unopened ballot box to the board of directors, and the board of directors shall open the box and count the ballots.
C. If the election was by in-person voting and if at the time of meeting the returns from each precinct in the district in which the polls were open have been received, the board of directors [must then and there] shall proceed to canvass the returns [but]. If all the returns have not been received, the canvass [must] shall be postponed from day to day until the returns have been received or until six postponements have been had.
D. The canvass [must] shall be made in public and by opening the returns and counting the votes cast for each person voted for, or as to each question voted upon, and declaring the results [thereof].
E. The board shall declare elected the person receiving the highest number of votes so returned for each office and also declare the result as to any question submitted."
Section 5. REPEAL.--Section 73-9-11 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1919, Chapter 41, Section 9) is repealed.
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