Paper Ballots Bill Passes House

The good news: Senator Linda Lopez's bill to require paper ballot voting in all counties (SB 295) passed the NM House last night by a vote of 38-24. Voting on the bill was expedited by the House leadership.

The bad news: The requirement that the new voting system be in place by the November 2006 election, which was stripped from the bill on the Senate floor, was not reinstated by the House. Instead, an amendment was added delaying the switch to paper ballots until funding is obtained to replace obsolete voting machines and cover other costs. According to an article in the Santa Fe :

The bill ... does not set a firm deadline for counties to move to paper ballot voting systems. Instead, the switch will be required once there’s enough money — state, local or federal — to replace existing equipment, obtain needed software, buy paper ballots for all counties and cover an estimated $3.7 million in loans that counties have for existing electronic voting machines that will be eliminated.

The bill now returns to the Senate for possible final approval if Senators agree to the changes made by the House. Tick tock.

t