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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T

SPONSOR:	McSorley		DATE TYPED:	02/05/02		HB
SHORT TITLE:		Instant Run-Off Elections, CA				SB	SJR 21
					ANALYST:		Woodlee

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained		Estimated Additional Impact		Recurring or Non-Rec	Fund Affected
FY02	FY03	FY02	FY03
			$30.0	Recurring	General Fund
			See Fiscal Implications Narrative

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

Secretary of State

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Joint Resolution 21 proposes to amend Article 5 and 7 of the New Mexico Constitution to require that candidates in an election be elected by a majority vote using instant runoff voting and authorize the option of instant runoff voting of plurality voting in primary and municipal elections.

Significant Issues

According to the Secretary of State, each voter ranks candidates on a ballot rather than voting for just one. The candidate who is rank highest on the fewest number of ballots is eliminated. The candidate with the next fewest number of high rankings is then eliminated, and so on. The candidate with the highest rankings on the most number of ballots is declared the winner.

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

There is no appropriation associated with this joint resolution. There is a cost of $30.0 related to the printing, publishing, advertising and translation of proposed constitutional amendments. There is a

special appropriation in the General Appropriations Act of 2002 of $500.0 for costs associated with the constitutional amendment process.

According to the Bureau of Elections, there currently is not a voting system within the state that contains the required software to allow for instant runoff voting. Of Federal Election Commission approved voting systems, only new touch-screen systems are able to accomplish instant runoff voting. These units are approximately $3.5 each, which would total approximately $10,000.0 in costs to the counties.

MW/ar