RELATING TO GOVERNING BOARDS OF TECHNICAL AND VOCATIONAL INSTITUTE DISTRICTS; EXTENDING THE DATE BY WHICH CERTAIN SPECIAL ELECTIONS ARE REQUIRED TO BE HELD.

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

Section 1. Section 21-16-5.1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1994, Chapter 83, Section 3, as amended) is amended to read:

"21-16-5.1. BOARD MEMBERS--ELECTED FROM DISTRICTS--ELECTIONS.--

A. A district board shall be composed of five or seven members elected for four-year terms who shall reside in and be elected from single-member districts as provided in this section. Any board, the members of which have not been elected from single-member districts, shall district and hold a special election to coincide with the school district elections of 2001. If the board is a seven-member board, board members shall be elected for all seven positions on the board, with the board members elected to positions 1, 3, 5 and 7 to be elected for initial terms of two years and the board members elected to positions 2, 4 and 6 to be elected for initial terms of four years. If the board is a five-member board, board members elected to positions 1, 3 and 5 shall be elected for initial terms of two years and board members elected to positions 2 and 4 shall be elected for initial terms of four years. After the initial election for a district board, each board member shall be elected for a term of four years.

B. Except where specific provision is otherwise provided by law, all election proceedings for technical and vocational institute district elections shall be conducted pursuant to the provisions of the School Election Law with the president of the institute serving in the place of the superintendent of schools in every case.

C. Once following each federal decennial census, the board shall redistrict the technical and vocational institute district into election districts to ensure that the districts remain as equal in population as is practicable. The new districts shall go into effect at the first regular board election thereafter. Candidates for the new

single-member districts that are scheduled to be voted on at the election shall reside in and be elected from the appropriate new single-member district. Incumbent board members whose districts before redistricting were not scheduled to be voted on at the election need not reside in the new single-member districts corresponding to their position numbers and may serve out their terms. At the second regular board election held after the redistricting, all candidates for the new single-member districts that are scheduled to be voted on shall reside in and be elected from the appropriate single-member district.

D. All election districts covered by this section shall be contiguous, compact and as equal in population as is practicable.

E. A vacancy occurring on the board shall be filled in the same manner as provided for school board vacancies in Section 22-5-9 NMSA 1978; provided, however, a vacancy that occurs in an election district where a nonresident board member had been serving shall be filled with a resident of that district."