HOUSE BILL 292

54th legislature - STATE OF NEW MEXICO - first session, 2019

INTRODUCED BY

Gregg Schmedes

AN ACT

RELATING TO ELECTIONS; PROVIDING PRIVACY TO VOTERS DURING EARLY VOTING.

BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:

     SECTION 1. Section 1-6-6 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1969, Chapter 240, Section 132, as amended) is amended to read:

     "1-6-6. ABSENTEE BALLOT REGISTER.--

          A. For each election, the county clerk shall keep an "absentee ballot register", in which the county clerk shall enter:

                (1) the name and address of each absentee ballot applicant;

                (2) the date and time of receipt of the application;

                (3) whether the application was accepted or rejected;

                (4) the date of issue of an absentee ballot in the county clerk's office or at an alternate location or the mailing of an absentee ballot to the applicant;

                (5) the applicant's precinct;

                (6) whether the applicant is a voter and whether the voter is a uniformed-service voter or an overseas voter;

                (7) whether the voter is required to submit identification pursuant to Section 1-6-5 NMSA 1978; and

                (8) the date and time the completed absentee ballot was received from the applicant by the county clerk or the absent voter voted early in person in the county clerk's office or at an alternate location.

          B. Absentee ballots shall be sent to applicants beginning twenty-eight days before the election. For each application for an absentee ballot received twenty-three or more days before the election, the county clerk shall send either the ballot or a notice of rejection to the applicant as soon as practicable, provided it is sent not later than twenty-two days before the election. Within twenty-two days of election day, the county clerk shall send either the ballot or a notice of rejection to the applicant within twenty-four hours after receipt of the voter's application for an absentee ballot.

          C. Except for the twenty-eight days preceding an election, the absentee ballot register is a public record open to public inspection in the county clerk's office during regular office hours. The county clerk shall have an updated county absentee ballot register available for public inspection Monday through Friday during regular office hours.

          D. The county clerk shall deliver to the absent voter precinct on election day a complete list of all absentee ballot applicants and early voters with applicable information shown in the absentee ballot register for each applicant and early voter up to 6:00 p.m. on the Saturday preceding the election. The county clerk shall deliver a signature roster containing the same information as the lists to the absent voter precinct board.

          [E. Upon request, the county clerk shall transmit to the county chair of each of the major political parties in the county a complete copy of entries made in the absentee ballot register. Such transmissions shall be made once each week beginning four weeks immediately prior to the election. A final copy shall be transmitted on the Saturday immediately following the election.

          F.] E. If the county clerk has available the technology to do so, at the request of a candidate or chair of a political party of the county, the county clerk shall electronically transmit to the candidate or chair via the internet, [the information, when updated, on the absentee ballot register indicating voters who have requested absentee ballots, returned their absentee ballots or voted early in person.] when updated, the total number of voters who have voted in an election, and may break down that total number by qualified political party or no party affiliation."

     SECTION 2. Section 1-11-13 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1969, Chapter 240, Section 223, as amended) is amended to read:

     "1-11-13. INDEX OF VOTERS.--Upon the written request of a qualified political party, a candidate, an election-related organization or an election observer, the secretary of state shall send to the requester an index of all voters and their addresses, their party affiliation, their precinct, their voter history and their unique identifier. [and their early or absentee voting status in any election currently underway] Each index shall be certified by the secretary of state as being an accurate listing of all voters in each requested county. The written request shall specify whether the information is to be received electronically or on paper, the electronic or physical delivery address, the time period during which the information is to be received, the frequency of receiving the information and the method of payment."

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