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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Duran
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
2/14/07
HB
SHORT TITLE Emergency Voting Requirements
SB 508
ANALYST Ortiz
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
NFI
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Attorney General’s Office (AGO)
No Responses Received From
Secretary of State (SOS)
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 508 would enact a new section of the Election Code providing for the issuance of an
alternative ballot “on the Monday before an election" by the county clerk to a person who is
unable to “go to the polls" on election day because of an “unforeseen" death in the family. The
person must request the ballot in person on that Monday and must submit a statement “under
penalty of perjury" that they are unable to vote on election day because of such a death.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
The issuance of a ballot on the Monday immediately preceding the day of the election is not
unprecedented in the Election Code. For example, NMSA 1978, Section 1-6-16 permits voters
who requested an absentee ballot but never received it to go the county clerk on the Monday
immediately preceding the day of the election to receive a ballot.