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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Beam
DATE TYPED 2/8/05
HB 64/aHVEC
SHORT TITLE Felony Convict Voting Requirements
SB
ANALYST Medina
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
No Response
Secretary of State (SOS)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of HVEC Amendment
The House Voters and Elections Committee amendment replaces “marital status” and “birth-
place” with “state tracking number” and “case number’ as items included in the required infor-
mation on a certificate of felony conviction. The certificate of felony conviction is filed by clerk
of the district court and is to be compared to a voter’s registration record for the purposes of can-
cellation of voter registration.
Synopsis of Bill
House Bill 64 amends Section 1-4-27.1 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 2001, Chapter 46, Section 1),
the statute governing the cancellation following felony conviction, and the restoration of voter
registration rights following completion of court-ordered terms of the felony conviction. The
amendment replaces the county clerk of the county where the convicted felon was registered to
vote with the Secretary of State as the agent to be notified by the district court clerk concerning
changes to voter registration eligibility. Upon release or discharge of a voter convicted of a fel-
ony from a correctional facility, the Secretary of State is also to be the agent to be notified con-
cerning changes to voter registration eligibility.
House Bill 64 calls for the Secretary of State, as the state’s chief elections officer, to be the cen-
tral point of contact and notification for changes to a convicted felon’s voter registration eligibil-
ity and instructs the Secretary of State to then notify all county clerks when a convicted felon’s
voting registration rights have been restored. A person’s certificate of completion of a sentence,
terms of probation or parole issued by the Corrections Department shall state that the person’s
voting rights are restored. Finally, House Bill 64 requires that the Corrections Department notify
the Secretary of State when such a certificate has been issued to the person and that the person’s
voter registration eligibility is restored.