VICTORY On Paper Ballots Bill!

I just got official word that SB 295, the paper ballot voting bill, received final approval in the NM Senate at midnight last night! It's now on the way to the Governor's office for signature.

Months and months of work by many election reform activists and legislators, as well as Governor Richardson and his staffers, has paid off bigtime! Special thanks go out to Verified Voting NM, United Voters of NM and Voter Action NM, as well as to the members of Democracy for New Mexico and other grassroots activists who visited the Legislature, wrote letters and made phone calls on behalf of this bill!

Congratulations to the bill's sponsor, Senator Linda Lopez, to Governor Richardson for making this legislation a top priority and to all who toiled so hard and so long to obtain a system New Mexico voters can depend on for accuracy and auditability. Very special thanks to Paul Stokes, Charlie Strauss and Terry Riley for hours too numerous to count spent at meetings of the Election Reform Task Force, Legislative hearings and keeping everyone informed.

I'll provide more on this as details emerge. We know there's more work to do to make this a reality, but for now, let's celebrate! (Thanks to Amanda Cooper for the heads up on this.)