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F I S C A L I M P A C T R E P O R T
SPONSOR Campos, P
ORIGINAL DATE
LAST UPDATED
2/14/07
HB
SHORT TITLE Use of Absentee Ballots as Backups
SB 571
ANALYST Ortiz
APPROPRIATION (dollars in thousands)
Appropriation
Recurring
or Non-Rec
Fund
Affected
FY07
FY08
NFI
(Parenthesis ( ) Indicate Expenditure Decreases)
Duplicates HB 758
Relates to SB179
SOURCES OF INFORMATION
LFC Files
Responses Received From
Attorney General’s Office (AGO)
Secretary of State
SUMMARY
Synopsis of Bill
Senate Bill 571 would amend NMSA Section 1-6-10 of the Election Code to allow the use of
unused absentee ballots by precinct boards requiring more ballots on election day. The bill would
require the Secretary of State to promulgate rules to ensure that all absentee ballots used as
backup ballots are accounted for and that all unused absentee ballots are destroyed at the close of
the polls on election day.
SIGNIFICANT ISSUES
According to the Attorney General’s Office, current law requires destruction of all unused
absentee ballots at 5:00 p.m. on the Monday preceding an election. This bill appears intended to
address situations where certain precincts receive an insufficient number of ballots on election
day.