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SPONSOR: |
Romero |
DATE TYPED: |
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HB |
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SHORT TITLE: |
Conservancy District Elections |
SB |
695 |
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ANALYST: |
Baca |
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Additional Impact |
Recurring or
Non-Rec |
Fund Affected |
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FY04 |
FY03 |
FY04 |
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NFI |
NFI |
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(Parenthesis
( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates HB 268
Secretary of State (SOS)
LFC Files
SUMMARY
Synopsis
of Bill
Senate Bill 695
provides for all elections within certain conservancy districts to be by
mail-in ballots. It prohibits certain
conservancy districts from entering into an agreement, including a reclamation
contract, issue bonds or otherwise incur any debt that
will be repaid, in whole or in part, by receipts from ad valorem
assessments levied by the district unless the question is first approved by the
qualified electors of that district in a mail-in ballot election.
Significant Issues
Senate Bill 695 amends several sections of the NMSA 1978 and provides for the inclusion of new sections. The language in the new sections provide:
Provides for the
following on the qualified elector list:
1.
The date of the mailing of the ballot to
the qualified elector; and
2.
The date and time the completed ballot
was received from the qualified elector by the election officer or election
director.
This section also
provides that election material will be mailed to each qualified elector no
later than thirty days prior to the date of a conservancy district
election. The qualified elector list is
public record and as such is open to public inspection during regular office
hours.
This section provides for the manner of voting by a qualified elector. The qualified elector shall:
Section 73-14-29.3 MAILED BALLOTS—RECEIPT OF BALLOTS BY ELECTION OFFICER OR ELECTION DIRECTOR
Provides for the
election officer or election director to:
The election officer
or election director shall accept completed official mailing envelopes until
At
Provides that prior to the opening of an official mailing envelope, the election judges shall determine that the required information has been completed on its reverse. If the qualified elector’s signature is missing the presiding judge shall proceed accordingly and place the official mailing envelope unopened in an envelope provided for rejected ballots.
An accredited
challenger may examine the official mailing envelope and may challenge the ballot
of any qualified elector because the official mailing envelope has been opened
prior to being received by the election judges.
If the official
mailing envelopes have been properly subscribed and the qualified electors have
not been challenged:
1. The election judges
shall open the official mailing envelopes and deposit the ballots in their
still-sealed official inner envelopes in the locked ballot box; and
2. The election
officer or election director shall enter the voter’s name and residence address
in the signature rosters.
Prior to
Provides
that if electronic voting machines are not used to register the mailed
ballots, the ballots shall be canvassed, recounted and disposed of in the
manner provided by the Election Code for the canvassing, recounting and
disposition of emergency paper ballots.
If voting machines are
used to register the ballots, the ballots shall be canvassed and rechecked
in the manner provided by the election code for the canvassing and recheck of
ballots cast on a voting machine.
In the event of a
contest, voting machines used to register the ballots shall be recounted in the
manner provided by the Election Code for the recounting of emergency paper
ballots.
Provides
that at any time prior to
No later than
forty-eight hours after the close of the election, the election officer or
election director shall determine if a replacement ballot from a qualified
elector was received by 7:00 p.m. on election day.
Provides that a conservancy district created prior to 1930,
situate in four or more counties and consisting of more than one hundred
thousand acres shall not enter into an agreement, including a reclamation
contract, issue bonds or otherwise incur any debt that will be repaid, in whole
or in part, by receipts from ad valorem assessments
levied by the district unless the question is first approved by the qualified
electors of that district in a mail-in ballot election conducted pursuant to
the provisions of Sections 73-14-18 through 73-14-84 through 73-14-86 NMSA
1978.
In addition to the new
sections, Section 73-18-24 NMSA 1978 is amended to read that Sections 73-18-1
through 73-18-24 NMSA 1978 may be cited as the “Conservancy
District—Reclamation Contract Act.”
Sections 73-14-31
through 73-14-31.3 NMSA 1978 are repealed.
The effective date of
the provisions of this act is
DUPLICATION
House Bill 268 is identical to SB 695.
TECHNICAL ISSUES
The Secretary of State
suggests that on page 14 line 5 and line 13, the word
“emergency” be deleted as this will allow for optical scan ballot types, which
are used for mail ballots.
LRB/yr:sb