A bill whose aim was leveling the playing field for minor parties in the area of ballot access was tabled and effectively killed by Democratic members of a House committee this morning.
The discussion provided insight into the perspective of Democrats, who have controlled state government for more than seven decades.
House Bill 331, sponsored by Rep. Brian Moore, R-Clayton, would eliminate the state’s requirement of two petitions before minor parties can place candidates on the ballot.
The issue stems from an unsuccessful lawsuit filed last year by the American Civil Liberties Union and Libertarian Party of New Mexico challenging the law on the grounds that it was unconstitutional. Democrats and Republicans who want to run for office have to gather a number of signatures to run, but their parties don’t have to file separate petitions containing a certain number of signatures.
Minor-party candidates have to do both.
At today’s hearing, a representative of the ACLU spoke in support of the bill, saying it would eliminate “the extra step that minor parties have to go through.”
But Daniel Ivey-Soto, the state’s elections director, spoke on behalf of Secretary of State Mary Herrera in opposing the bill. Major-party candidates would still have to gather signatures if the legislation were enacted, but minor-party candidates would not have to do that, instead relying on their parties to nominate them.
“We feel that it actually creates a disparity against the major parties,” Ivey-Soto said.
The argument among minor parties is that Democrats and Republicans have to gather signatures to reduce the number of candidates who run in primaries, which are the nominating process of the major parties. Minor parties, with fewer members and candidates, can come up with their own, simplified systems for nominating candidates, they argue, because they don’t need primaries.
Bob Walsh, who spoke in support of the bill, pointed out another disparity against those who aren’t Democrats and Republicans – minor-party members and independents pay taxes to fund Democratic and Republican primaries, but can’t vote in them.
“So it is really important to minimize the barriers to get them on the ballot,” Walsh said.
Democrats didn’t like proposal
Rep. Edward Sandoval, D-Albuquerque, agreed with Ivey-Soto.
“We’d be going backwards instead of forward here,” he said about the proposed legislation.
Rep. Janice Arnold-Jones, R-Albuquerque, defended the bill, and also turned the discussion toward those who register to vote without membership in any party – so-called “independents” – whose ballot access requirements weren’t addressed in
“Somewhere along the line, we as major parties have disenfranchised these voters, and we need to be sure they have a voice,” Arnold-Jones said.
Rep. Debbie Rodella, D-Ohkay Owingeh, disagreed, saying she believes many people register independent of a party not because they don’t want to be party members but because, when they are filling out voter registration forms, they “overlook” the section on the form where they can specify party membership.
Arnold-Jones countered that she is “convinced that there are a growing group of people who are really angry with us.”
“I do not think that prohibiting access is our intention,” she said. “That’s not our intention, but that’s exactly what’s happened.”
Speaker of the House Ben Lujan, D-Nambé and a member of the committee, said that, if people want an easier path toward getting their names on the ballot, they should register as Democrats or Republicans.
The committee’s six Democrats who were present then voted in favor of tabling the bill. The four Republicans who were present voted against the motion.