The New Mexico State Capitol in January last year. (Eddie Moore/Albuquerque Journal)
SANTA FE The newly formed Citizen Redistricting Committee rejected a proposed rule Friday that would have required its members to disclose private conversations about proposed district maps.
The chairman of the committee, retired Supreme Court Justice Edward Chávez, had proposed the prohibition on undisclosed ex parte communications as part of the group’s new rules of procedures.
But it drew criticism from conservative activists and left-leaning community groups alike, with concerns raised about whether it would discourage participation from people who can’t make it to a formal public meeting to testify.
SANTA FE — Retired state Supreme Court Justice Edward Chávez will lead New Mexico s newly created citizen redistricting committee — one of a host of appointments made Friday as the…
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Independent voters don’t have a voice in New Mexico’s primary elections, and lawyers are financing judicial campaigns.
Two good-government bills addressing these election shortcomings have been introduced in the Legislature, and it’s time to pass them both and make them law.
House Bill 79, sponsored by Democratic Reps. Miguel Garcia and Daymon Ely and Sen. Katy Duhigg and Republican Sen. Mark Moores, would allow voters who aren’t affiliated with a major political party to vote in primary elections. This is overdue; in many races primary elections determine the ultimate winner. Candidates from Lea to Rio Arriba counties are often unopposed in the general election, leaving voters from one major political party to decide the next sheriff, county clerk or commissioner.