The American Democracy Minute Radio Report & Podcast for April 4, 2023
Today’s Links
Articles & Resources:
KOB4 News – New Mexico Voting Rights Act heads to governor’s desk
Hobbs News/AP – Gov. Lujan Grisham signs New Mexico Voting Rights Act into law
NM Legislature – HB 4 New Mexico Voting Rights Act Bill Language
Office of Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham – Gov. Lujan Grisham signs New Mexico Voting Rights Act into law
The Sentencing Project – The Sentencing Project Applauds Voting Rights Reform in New Mexico
Groups Taking Action:
NM Native Vote, ACLU New Mexico, The Sentencing Project, OLE’ NM, League of Women Voters NM, Common Cause NM
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.
In a year of many anti-voter bills around the country, we have a ray of sunshine for you today. March 30th, New Mexico’s governor signed the HB 4 New Mexico Voting Rights Act, expanding voter registration and vote-by-mail options, and making voting more available for the state’s Native Americans, and returning felons.
The new law signed March 30th by Governor Michelle Lujan Grisham enacts automatic voter registration when doing business at the Motor Vehicles Department, and gives the option of election-day registration at all polling places. It enhances mail-in voting by creating a permanent absentee voter list, assisting elderly and disabled voters, and guarantees two secure, monitored drop boxes in every county.
The Act also restores voting rights to an estimated 11,000 returning felons immediately upon release from confinement, eliminating the waiting period during probation or parole.
Included in the package of reforms is a first in the United States: The Native American Voting Rights Act. It allows Native nations, tribes and pueblos to apply to change their voting locations and provide drop boxes. And most importantly, it allows Native citizens to use government buildings as a registered address. Since some rural locations don’t have addresses, legislators in other states have used address requirements to suppress the Native vote.
We have links to articles, the bill’s language, and groups taking action at AmericanDemocracyMinute.org. I’m Brian Beihl.
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