NOTE:  As provided in LFC policy, this report is intended only for use by the standing finance committees of the legislature.  The Legislative Finance Committee does not assume responsibility for the accuracy of the information in this report when used for other purposes.

 

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

 

 

 

SPONSOR:

Park

 

DATE TYPED:

2/28/03

 

HB

986

 

SHORT TITLE:

County Clerk Election Reporting

 

SB

 

 

 

ANALYST:

Chavez

 

APPROPRIATION

 

Appropriation Contained

Estimated Additional Impact

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY03

FY04

FY03

FY04

 

 

 

 

 

$1,460.5

Non-Recurring

General Fund

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

 

 

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

 

Secretary of State (SOS)

LFC Files

 

SUMMARY

 

     Synopsis of Bill

 

House Bill 986 creates a new section of the Election Code to provide that the county clerk will be required to report to the Secretary of State the total votes in each precinct for each candidate and ballot question as follows:

 

  1. vote totals by voters who vote in person on election day;
  2. vote totals by absentee voters who vote early in person; and
  3. vote totals by absentee voters who vote by absentee ballots by mail.

 

     Significant Issues

 

Currently, the Secretary of State (SOS) reports that absentee votes are reported by legislative district and to implement this change would require the Electronic Canvass System to be altered.

 

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

 

The bill does not contain an appropriation.  However, as indicated by the SOS, the optical scan voting machines used by absentee precinct boards in every county, with the exception of Bernalillo County, which uses a larger machine, presently can be programmed to count up to 4 legislative districts.    The SOS further states that going to a precinct count would require the purchase of an additional 254 machines.  The per cost machine would be $5,750 or a total of $1,460,500.

 

CONFLICT

 

There is an apparent conflict with regard to Section 1-6-5.4 and Section 1-6-20 NMSA 1978 because these sections provide that sorting of absentee ballots be by representative district for canvassing purposes and that absent voter precincts are to be identified by the name of the county and the state representative district number.

 

POSSIBLE QUESTIONS

 

1.     Currently, counties convene absentee precinct boards by legislative district.  Will the counties be required to have a separate absentee board per precinct?  If so, it is indicated by the SOS that the cost to counties to pay for these individuals pursuant to Section 1-6-24 will be great. 

 

***The current hourly rate for absent voter precinct board members depends on the county.  However, the range allowable is from $55 to $150.

 

FC/ls