The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for Jan. 27, 2023

Today’s Links

Articles & Resources:

Albuquerque Journal – Democrats launch new campaign for NM voting rights bill

Santa Fe New Mexican – Democrats expected to resurrect voting rights bill killed in last year’s session
New Mexico Legislature – Text of the **2022** version of the SB 8 New Mexico Voting Rights Act.  The text for the 2023 version has not yet been posted.  2022 provisions like allowing 16 & 17 year olds to vote local elections has reportedly been dropped in 2023.

Groups Taking Action:

ACLU NM,  Organizers in the Land of Enchantment (OLE’), NM Native Vote

Today’s Script:  (Variations occur with audio due to editing for time) 

You’re listening to the American Democracy Minute, keeping YOUR government by and for the people.

While there are hundreds of bills around the U.S. making it harder for targeted groups of citizens to vote, we’re highlighting New Mexico, which will be proposing reforms to INCREASE access for all eligible voters.

The Albuquerque Journal reports that the New Mexico Voting Rights Act was proposed at a press conference Tuesday by House Speaker Javier Martínez, and democracy advocates. Among the reforms is automatic registration of eligible voters during Motor Vehicle Department transactions, unless the citizen opts out. This system is similar to that of neighboring Colorado.

For whom mail-in voting is necessary or convenient, the bill creates a permanent absentee voter list to which an absentee ballot would be mailed without a request for every election.

The bill would also restore voting rights to citizens leaving incarceration, changing the current statute which doesn’t restore those rights until after parole.

Unlike neighboring Arizona, which has repeatedly passed laws making it more difficult for Native Americans to vote, the bill creates a Native American Voting Rights Act. Included would be a provision for Natives who don’t have traditional addresses to use official tribal buildings as a voter registration address. It would also facilitate polling locations on tribal nation land.

We have links to articles and groups taking action, at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. For the American Democracy Minute, I’m Brian Beihl.