HOUSE MEMORIAL 102

51st legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2013

INTRODUCED BY

Cathrynn N. Brown

A MEMORIAL

REQUESTING THE SECRETARY OF STATE TO STUDY THE EFFECT OF NEW MEXICO'S CURRENT VOTER IDENTIFICATION STATUTES ON VOTERS IN LIGHT OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF VOTING CONVENIENCE CENTERS.

     WHEREAS, currently, Section 1-1-24 NMSA 1978 provides that a voter may provide a verbal statement of the voter's name, registration address and year of birth, in lieu of any physical form of identification; and

     WHEREAS, with the implementation of voting convenience centers, a signature roster at a single polling location, on election day, may consist of as many as several hundred thousand names; and

     WHEREAS, during early voting, a signature roster may consist of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of names; and

     WHEREAS, some voters on the list may have the same or substantially similar names as other voters on the list; and

     WHEREAS, based on news reports and information from county clerks' offices and precinct boards, during the 2012 election cycle, errors were made at the precinct level in selecting the correct name from the long list of eligible voters; and

     WHEREAS, when the wrong name was selected, that selected voter's record then showed that a vote had already been cast in that voter's name, resulting in the disenfranchisement of that voter;

     NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the secretary of state be requested to study the effects of verbal voter identification on voters who may be disenfranchised through misidentification errors caused by long signature rosters at early voting sites and voting convenience centers; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the secretary of state be requested to study the effects, including advantages and disadvantages, of the use of voting convenience centers and that the findings of the study be presented to the New Mexico legislative council for distribution to the entire legislative body by February 1, 2014; and

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that a copy of this memorial be transmitted to the secretary of state.

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