New Mexico house bill proposes changes to state primary elections
If House Bill 54 passes, voters would no longer need to declare a party registration to participate in a primary.
If House Bill 54 passes, voters would no longer need to declare a party registration to participate in a primary.
If House Bill 54 passes, voters would no longer need to declare a party registration to participate in a primary.
A New Mexico House bill proposing changes to state primary elections will be reintroduced at the 2023 legislative session.
If House Bill 54 passes, voters would no longer need to declare a party registration to participate in a primary. Currently, voters registered as Democrat or Republican can vote with their party in primary elections.
Open primaries allow people to vote without being a member of a party. However, unaffiliated voters in New Mexico often referred to as independents cannot participate in primaries.
The law requires them to change their registration to vote in a different party's primary in New Mexico.
KOAT political expert Brian Sanderoff said there are over 300,000 unaffiliated voters in New Mexico. However, some people argue the bill, if passed, could have an impact of future elections, by increasing the number of moderate voters participating in the primaries.
"This bill has been introduced many times over the years, and somehow it is never passed. One of the reasons it hasn't passed is because some people believe that you should be a member of a party," Sanderoff said. "Other people believe, people who support the bill, that the unaffiliated voters are being disenfranchised and should have an opportunity to participate in a party's primary election."
The legislative session begins Tuesday, Jan. 17.