Friday, January 29, 2016 is a banner day in the NM State Legislature!

Tomorrow morning (1-29-2016) at 8:30 AM in the House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee they will hear several constitutional amendments that we support!

When: 8:30 AM on Friday (tomorrow)

Where: Room 315 at the Roundhouse

What: all these great bills!

• HJR 1; Independent Redistricting Commission: Rep. Carl Trujillo
• HJR 2; All Qualified Electors Registered to Vote, Rep. Javier Martínez 
• HJR 5; Independent Ethics Commission; Rep. Jim Dines

ETHICS: New Mexico is still one of only eight states without an ethics commission. 

Over the past year, New Mexico has seen a historic number of high-profile ethics scandals involving our trusted elected officials.  

The vast majority of elected officials in New Mexico are honest, hard-working people, but those few who have violated the law have systematically destroyed the public’s trust. 

According to our January 2016 state-wide poll, 85% of New Mexicans want our legislature to take immediate action and create an Independent Ethics Commission this session.

It’s time to rebuild the broken trust and create real accountability between the public and our elected officials — call your legislator today!

REDISTRICTING: 68% of New Mexico voters, across demographic lines, support the creation of an Independent Redistricting Commission.

Common Cause New Mexico supports HJR 1, sponsored by Rep. Carl Trujillo and Sen. Bill O’Neill, to create an independent commission to conduct redistricting.  This will establish written criteria for re-drawing district boundaries and require a fair and transparent process for conducting redistricting.

The drawing of electoral districts is not transparent, and all too often, there is no public participation.  The resulting districts can often serve the political interests of the people who draw them, rather than the interests of the people being represented.

VOTING: Let’s keep moving towards modernizing our registration system!

Rep. Javier Martinez has introduced HJR 2 that will automatically register all qualified people in New Mexico to vote.  Automatic voter registration shifts the burden of voter registration from the individual to the state, as is done in many developed democracies around the world.

Automatic voter registration ensures that all eligible persons can vote unless they opt out of being put on the rolls (which all voters have the opportunity to do).  It makes to voter registration more efficient for voters and election administrators, and voter lists more accurate.  

So come on down – we need you to call or email your Representative today and join us tomorrow morning in Santa Fe!