McCamley Fights for Voter Protection: Dona Ana County Commission Passes Election Reform Resolution

Yesterday Doña Ana County Commissioner and NM-02 congressional candidate Bill McCamley put before the Doña Ana County Commission a resolution “Urging New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson to Include Election Reform on the 2008 Legislative Agenda.” The resolution passed 5-0.

In a presentation before the Commission, the head of the Elections Bureau, Lynn Ellins, and local attorney Peter Ossorio pointed to some of the problems caused by the recent reforms. In particular, requiring all voters to have a “unique identifier” number that will be generated randomly is an issue of major concern.

“The new requirement for a randomly generated Voter ID number is a very bad idea,” McCamley said following the meeting. “It could lead to the disenfranchisement of a large number of New Mexico voters, particularly elderly voters, low-income voters, and New Mexicans serving in the military who often vote by absentee ballot. We cannot allow this to happen. Our Resolution calls on the Governor to allow the legislature the opportunity to address this issue.”

The Resolution notes that it is the “right of every registered voter in the State of New Mexico to vote in as efficient way as possible, and not be presented with unnecessary obstacles that may discourage them from voting.” It also points out that recent changes made to the New Mexico Election Code will “effectively deprive New Mexico voters” of ways to prove their identity and will “likely result in increased complications for poll workers and longer wait times at polling places” which in turn leads to the possibility of the “disenfranchisement of large numbers of registered New Mexico voters.”

The Resolution calls for the legislature “to pass simple, clear and comprehensive changes to the New Mexico Election Code, which will protect the rights of all registered voters to vote at polls, by absentee ballot or by provisional ballot.”

“Protecting the rights of voters is absolutely essential to our democracy at the most fundamental level,” said McCamley. “As a County Commissioner, I am doing everything I can to protect voter rights, and I will continue to do that when I get to Congress.”

To learn more about the new requirements for voter ID, see this post on Heath Haussamen.
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Since declaring his candidacy in April, McCamley has raised over $200,000 and has visited all 18 counties in the Second District. He has received endorsements from eight elected Democratic officials in the Second District, as well as the New Mexico Building and Construction Trades Council, which represents over 7,000 New Mexico workers.

More information about McCamley and his campaign is available on his website: www.billmccamley.com.