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

SPONSOR Cordova

DATE TYPED 01/28/05 HB 350

SHORT TITLE Vote Total Reporting Requirements

SB

ANALYST Ford

APPROPRIATION

Appropriation Contained Estimated Additional Impact Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

FY05

FY06

FY05

FY06

Indeterminate

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

Conflicts with HB 28

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

Secretary of State (SOS)

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

House Bill 350 repeals Section 1-6-10.2 NMSA 1978 which requires county clerks to report total

votes in each precinct for each candidate and ballot question separately by the following catego-

ries:

•

voters who voted in person on election day,

•

absentee voters who voted early in person; and

•

absentee voters who voted by absentee ballots by mail.

Significant Issues

According to the Secretary of State, the process required under current law is cumbersome and

expensive. Emergency ballots, sample ballots and absentee ballots must be purchased by pre-

cinct instead of by legislative district. In addition, the Secretary of State notes that the integrity

and secrecy of the ballot has been compromised by the reporting required under this section.

House Bill 350 -- Page 2

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

Total fiscal impact is indeterminate but there may be cost savings to the Secretary of State and

the counties because of the more simplified results reporting and canvassing processes.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

The Secretary of State indicates that reporting results and canvassing will be much easier for the

county clerks and the Secretary of State if Section 1-6-10.2 were repealed.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

House Bill 350 conflicts with House Bill 28 because House Bill 28 maintains the current report-

ing requirement and adds additional requirements to the section. House Bill 28 requires county

clerks to report to the Secretary of State the number of voters who signed the signature roster in

each precinct, the number of provisional ballots cast in each precinct, and the total number of

each type of paper ballot printed, cast, spoiled or destroyed by the county for an election. In ad-

dition, House Bill 28 requires the Secretary of State to post this information to its website.

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