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

SPONSOR McSorley

ORIGINAL DATE

LAST UPDATED

2/19/07

HB

SHORT TITLE

Voting System Audits & Accuracy

SB 179

ANALYST Ortiz/Baca

ESTIMATED ADDITIONAL OPERATING BUDGET IMPACT (dollars in thousands)

FY07

FY08

FY09 3 Year

Total Cost

Recurring

or Non-Rec

Fund

Affected

Total

Indeterminate

Recurring General

Fund

(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)

SOURCES OF INFORMATION

LFC Files

Responses Received From

No response received from the Secretary of state

SUMMARY

Synopsis of Bill

Senate Bill 179 appropriates no dollar amount but states that all costs for a random voting system

check shall be paid by the state.

The bill creates an election commission, which would be administratively attached to the

Secretary of State. A new section of the Election Code is enacted and provides that the

commission shall promulgate rules necessary for random voting system checks, oversee random

voting system checks and establish standards and procedures to ensure the reliability of the

random checks. The commission, post-election, shall oversee a random check of precinct and

alternate voting location vote tabulators

FISCAL IMPLICATIONS

The bill contains no appropriation but its implementation may entail indeterminate costs in

addition to expenditures for post-election activities currently implemented by the Secretary of

State. Costs would include per diem, audits and contractual services related to statistical

analyses and other technical services

Senate Bill 179 – Page

2

SIGNIFICANT ISSUES

Technological changes and expectations of accuracy in reporting results of votes cast have

awakened an interest in and a distrust of the processes being used to determine the winners and

losers in elections at all levels: local, state and national. This sensitivity to the veracity of voting

results, or lack thereof, was heightened following the presidential election of 2000 and led the

federal government to enact laws intended to improve the elections process and to allay public

skepticism and discontent. Several states followed suit in an effort to restore public confidence

in the process, New Mexico being among them. These efforts may be categorized as election

reforms.

ADMINISTRATIVE IMPLICATIONS

Duties have been added to the Secretary of State. It is unknown what the additional costs may

be, and an appropriation may become necessary in the future.

CONFLICT, DUPLICATION, COMPANIONSHIP, RELATIONSHIP

None detected.

TECHNICAL ISSUES

None detected.

OTHER SUBSTANTIVE ISSUES

The “Election Commission" created by SB 179 is administratively attached to the Office of the

Secretary of State. The commission is to be composed of the following members:

(1) the director of the bureau of elections, who shall serve as chair of the commission;

(2) the attorney general or the attorney general's designee;

(3) the state auditor or the state auditor's designee; and

(4) three public members appointed by the governor and confirmed by the senate, one

of whom is an expert in statistics and two of whom represent different nonpartisan

voter information or voter education organizations.

“Public members shall serve for terms of four years, beginning January 1, 2008, and may be

removed by the governor only for malfeasance, misfeasance or neglect of duty. Vacancies shall

be filled by appointment of the governor for the remainder of the unexpired term."

The bill requires the Secretary of State provide the commission with staff, record keeping and

related administrative and clerical assistance as necessary.

The commission’s duties include;

1)

promulgating rules necessary for carrying out random voting system checks in

accordance with provisions of the Election Code;

(2) overseeing random voting system checks following general elections in accordance

with the provisions of Sections 3 and 4 of this 2007 act; and

Senate Bill 179 – Page

3

(3) establishing standards and procedures to ensure the reliability and integrity of random

voting system checks.

The commission may request expert technical advice and contract with public or private

universities for statistical analyses and other technical services.

SB 179 prescribes the commissions post general election duties which include overseeing a

random voting system check of precinct electronic tabulators, alternate voting locations and

absent voter precinct electronic tabulators with the random checks having at least a ninety

percent probability for statewide races.

Additional duties include requesting the state canvassing board direct random checks by the

state’s county clerks, one of the checks being to compare the vote totals of selected candidates

from a hand recount of a proportionate number paper ballots from randomly selected absent

voter precincts. For purposes of the bill, "selected offices" means the offices of governor or

president, the statewide elective office for which the winning candidate won by the narrowest

margin of all candidates for statewide elective office and the federal elective office for which the

winning candidate won by the narrowest margin of all federal candidates for federal office in

New Mexico.

WHAT WILL BE THE CONSEQUENCES OF NOT ENACTING THIS BILL

Post election audit and recount activities will continue to be conducted pursuant to the provision

of 14-13.1 NMSA 1978

EO-LRB/csd