Constitutional Amendments (Arguments For and Against) Abridged

Arguments For and Against Proposed Constitutional Amendment 1

2014

Arguments For

1. Separate school elections no longer necessary.
   The reason for the prohibition against holding school elections in conjunction with other elections no longer exists. Women have had the right to vote in all public elections in New Mexico since 1920.
2. May increase voter participation.
   At least in recent years, voter turnout for school elections has tended to be very low. This may be partly due to "voter fatigue". In some New Mexico counties, voters may be faced with numerous elections in a given year. Reducing the number of elections by allowing school and other nonpartisan elections to be combined might, therefore, increase overall voter participation.
3. May lower costs for school districts.
   If adopted, school districts could choose to lower their costs by holding their elections in tandem with other nonpartisan elections.

Arguments Against

1. Does not allow school elections during regular November general elections; may be unfairly combined with other elections.
   The proposed amendment is too limited. It continues the prohibition against holding school elections in conjunction with partisan elections; however, the regular November general elections are always partisan elections. Therefore:
   1. combined election dates will typically be limited to municipal and special district elections. Often, school district boundaries extend over several municipalities and special districts, which may hold their local elections on different dates. Choosing to combine a school district's election day with one municipality would unfairly favor the voters in that community over the other voters within that school district; and
   2. adopting the proposed amendment would continue to bar school districts from the potential opportunities for cost savings and increased voter participation resulting from holding their elections in conjunction with November general elections.
2. Diluted focus.
   Setting school elections aside from all other elections permits the focus of public discussion on education issues. It allows voters to learn about school board candidates, school bonds and education ballot initiatives without the distraction of competing issues.
3. Diluted impact of knowledgeable voters.
   Current voter turnout for school elections is likely determined by the number of people who are more interested in, and informed about, education issues. Allowing school elections to be combined with other nonpartisan elections dilutes the impact of knowledgeable voters in exchange for incremental cost savings for school districts.
4. Ballots too long and confusing.
   Allowing combined nonpartisan elections will make those ballots longer and potentially confusing to voters.