Democracy for New Mexico

SB678 on House Voters & Elections Agenda Today

According to Charlotte Roybal:
The election reform bill passed by the Senate will be heard in the House Voters and Elections committee this morning, which starts at 8 AM. It sounds like SB678 will be the bill and that HB1063, Rep. Ed Sandoval's bill, will be dropped. There are changes in the bill to look out for. I'm sure the Santa Fe contingent will keep us posted.

Also, according to Leland Lehrman of Santa Fe's Mother Media:
In an interview with Billy Sparks, Governor Richardson's Press Secretary, Mother Media has learned that the Governor is "encouraged" by the passage of the Senate Election Reform bill. This bill contains Voter Verifiable Paper Trails, Automatic Machine Audits, Protection for Provisional Voters and is known as Senate Judiciary Committee Substitute for 678, 718 et al.

Information from Senator Ortiz y Pino's legislative aide Harry Pavlides indicate that the Governor has publicly weighed in with the Congressional leadership indicating his support for this Senate Election Reform Bill. According to Pavlides, the bill is "wired," short-hand for set to pass. 

Mother Media has endorsed the bill and will broadcast live three minute updates from the Roundhouse on KTRC 1260 AM Santa Fe. Look for us at the top of the hour from 11AM - 4PM. We will directly follow Air America news.

The House Voters and Elections Committee will meet today, Thursday, at 8AM to vote on the bill and it will probably make it to the House floor for a full vote late today or early Friday morning. Mother Media encourages citizens to come to the Roundhouse to catch the action in person.

While amendments sponsored by the Republicans have made it into the Senate bill, it remains possible the Republicans will vote against it en masse today. Democrats are not likely to defect, so a party line vote in Voter and Elections would send the bill to the House floor for a full vote.

Opinions differ regarding whether the House will be more difficult to pass than the Senate, but senior sources indicate that it will be a terrific battle. The debate in the Senate lasted three hours. It remains essential that citizens in favor of election reform and voter protection call their Representatives to urge support for this bill. The Capitol Switchboard phone is 505.986.4300, legislators can be found on the web at https://legis.state.nm.us.

Provided the bill clears the  House, the final step will be clearing the final Senate Committee to which it is referred. It will probably go to the Senate Judiciary Committee which already passed it 5-4 in a party line vote. Judiciary Committee Chairman Cisco McSorley has been an ally of Election Reform from the beginning.

ACTION ALERT: Call Reps about HB1063

On the House side of the election reform bill voting, Rep. Sandoval's office says the NM House Voters & Elections Committee will meet tomorrow (TUESDAY) at 8:30 AM in Room 305 to consider HB1063.

Meanwhile, PHONE PHONE PHONE the legislators and urge them to support HB1063. Every call has an effect on how they vote!

Click to find members of the NM House of Representatives.

ACTION ALERT: Call Democratic Senators Re SB678 on Election Reform

I have just heard that the Committee Substitute SB678, the omnibus election reform bill sponsored by Senator Linda Lopez, will not be heard on the Senate Floor tonight. It will probably be heard tomorrow morning, Tuesday, March 15. However, as I'm sure you're aware, this can change.

You are urged to contact all the Democratic Senators tonight or early tomorrow morning to urge passage of SB678. It's down to the wire, and I have been told that it's extremely important that Senators hear from us NOW.

Click to find the contact information for all Democratic Senators.

MoveOn Call-In Day for Fair Judges Set for Wednesday

From MoveOn PAC:
This weekend, we heard from congressional sources that Republicans are closer than ever to the number of Senate votes they need to use the "nuclear option"—paving the way for the appointment of truly extreme right-wing judges. With enough of an outcry, we can stop them. But we need to move fast to get the word out and demonstrate to our senators broad-based opposition to this dangerous measure. So our call-in day comes at just the right time.

This message contains essential info for Wednesday's massive national call-in day (which we described during last week's parties). It also addresses some of the most frequent questions you mentioned in the post-party survey, including how to get involved in Operation Democracy, our big new campaign to fight the right and elect progressives, if you didn't make it to a party. If you're waiting for details on the call-in days—or feeling confused more generally—please read on!

1. The call-in day is on Wednesday. We moved it to Wednesday because Senator Byrd of West Virginia, one of the Senate's most distinguished statesmen, has agreed to headline a MoveOn member rally in Washington, D.C. to coincide with the call-in day (if you live in the D.C. area you'll get a separate message about this event).

2. Materials and instructions are ready. You will find everything you need, including complete call-in day instructions, a flyer for your area with the appropriate senators' names and numbers, a sample script, how-to's and issue info at:

3. If you're a team leader, register your team now. It's easy. You'll be asked for a team name, the area your team will cover, and a description. Don't worry too much about these -- you can change them later. Then you can enter your team members' names and info, or send them a link to sign up themselves. Just click here to start:

4. If you want to participate in Operation Democracy, our new progressive campaign, please join a team or start your own. You can find a team near you by entering your zip at the link below. You can also start your own team, which can be public (other members can find it and ask to join) or private (only people you invite can join). And it can start as small as one or two people. Click here to find or start a team:

Election Bills Today

From Bob Walsh of United Voters of NM:
The Senate floor session is set for 9 AM this morning, with SB678 as fifth on the list of bills, probably not to be considered before 10 AM.

The Senate Rules Committee is scheduled to meet at 8 AM.  The agenda on the website has not been updated since Friday and does not contain any bills of interest.  However, the agenda that was posted on the wall for the Sunday meeting, which was canceled, did contain SB1065 (McSorley) as the 3rd item, but contained neither the Task Force bill (HB) nor the moratorium (HB).  Even if they use Sunday's agenda, they may not get to SB1065.  In fact, they may want to wait on that one to see if SB678 gets through the Senate.

The House Voters and Election Committee does not show anything for today on the web site. This week, of course, all schedules are subject to change by announcements on the floor or on the loudspeakers. In fact, while this letter was being composed, the web site seems to have crashed temporarily.

Republicans Walk Out of House Elections & Voters Committee to Halt Election Reform Bill: Time Getting Short

From Dory Shonagon:
NM House Bill HB1063, the Governor’s bill supporting V.V.P.B. and Audits, was second on the House Voters & Elections Committee agenda today. Just as Rep. Sandoval was getting ready to present it, with amendments that the Republicans in subcommittee worked on and agreed to, all five of them got up and walked out in protest. The Committee thus lost its quorum and all action had to be stopped.

It was clear that the Republicans simply did NOT want the bill to pass the committee. This last drastic action of delay did indeed delay the bill for at least another day. And of course we are running out of time as the Legislature ends on March 19.

After the Republican walkout, the Democrats on the Committee held a press conference in the Rotunda, where many of our people-citizens got to speak as well as the House Dems on the Committee. Television media was there, including Albuquerque's Channel 7, and it will most likely be on the news tonight or tomorrow, as well as in the morning papers.

On the Senate side, once Senate Judiciary Substitute Bill SB 678 is passed on the Senate floor, which looks likely for tomorrow, it will go to the House. It is likely to be referred to the Voters and Elections Committee, where things can be difficult with Rep. Madalena ill and with the normal 8-7 split in favor of the Democrats not there. Still there is a chance the bill could pass the House Elections committee, go to the House floor, pass there and finally go to the Governor for his signature. Of course the delaying tactics being employed by the Republicans make it more difficult.

What is working in our favor is that Governor Richardson seems to very much want a comprehensive election reform bill to emerge under his leadership -- if not in the regular session then perhaps in a special session later this Spring.

As things stand, Tuesday may well be our key day. If the Senate bill passes Monday on the Senate Floor, it would probably be heard in the House Elections Committee on Tuesday. If it passes there, we have a chance to have it voted upon on the House Floor Wednesday or Thursday.

We'll try to keep you posted as soon as we hear what's going on.

Senate Election Reform Bill Switched to Monday

From Bob Stearns:
Hi All, Latest word from Senator Lopez's office is that the Senate Judiciary Substitute Bill 678 will not be considered tonight (SUNDAY) on the Senate Floor and will be postponed until tomorrow (MONDAY). We will notify you as soon as we see the Senate Floor Calendar for tomorrow on the Legislature's website www.legis.state.nm.us.

Sorry about all this and the always late notice but that is the way the Legislature works. And this is why your PHONE CALLS TO LAWMAKERS are important. Click to find your Senator and his or her phone number.

Critical Sunday Hearings on Election Reform Bills

From Charlotte, Wayne and Bob:

On the Senate Side:
NM Senate Judiciary Committee Substitute 678 (Election Reform) is number 6 on the Senate Floor Agenda which begins at 12:30 PM on Sunday, March 13, 2005. Senator Linda Lopez, the sponsor, has asked that we have people in the gallery to show support for the bill.

On the House Side:
The NM House Voters & Elections Committee did not meet on SATURDAY morning as scheduled and finally announced late that day that it will meet on SUNDAY at 10 AM in room 309 to consider HB1063, the Governor’s bill supporting V.V.P.B. and Audits. Some 10 activists turned out Saturday and please come Sunday if you can.

THESE ARE THE MOMENTS OF TRUTH. PLEASE MAKE YOUR PHONE CALLS AND SHOW UP AT THE ROUNDHOUSE.

Election Reform Progress

From Bob, Charlotte, Wayne and the rest of the Roundhouse gang:

The Senate Judiciary Substitute Bill SB 678 passed and was sent to the Senate floor at about 5:15 PM FRIDAY. Vote was 5-4 on party lines.

Repubs complained they had not received the latest version of the bill in time for their analysts to examine. Their opposition was focused on what they see as weak Voter ID provisions but Sen. Payne said he supported Voter Verifiable Paper Ballots (V.V.P.B.). Senators Sanchez and Grubesic said they supported the bill in committee but were undecided whether they’d do so on the floor, because they saw Voter ID changes as not needed.

SB678 may be brought up on the Senate floor on SUNDAY SO IT’S TIME NOW TO ESPECIALLY CALL YOUR SENATORS TO SUPPORT SB678. If passed it has to go through the House within the week. Some 15 activists attended the Judiciary Committee meeting today..

NEXT UP FOR V.V.P.B. IS HB 1063 TO BE HEARD AGAIN AT THE 8:30 AM SATURDAY MEETING IN ROOM 305 BY THE HOUSE VOTERS & ELECTIONS COMMITTEE. PLEASE TRY TO BE THERE. THE COMMITTEE NEEDS TO SEE NEW FACES THERE FOR OUR SIDE. Best, Bob, Charlotte, Wayne and the rest of the Roundhouse gang. .

Al Franken Show Coming to ABQ on Tuesday

Al Franken's Air America show will be broadcasting live in Albuquerque:

When: Tuesday, March 15th
Where: National Hispanic Cultural Center
Time: 10 AM - 1 PM

You can get free tickets at several Albuquerque stores this weeken, only during the hours listed:

Sunday, March 13th
Peacecraft (Central/Nob Hill)
3215 Central Avenue NE
(505) 255-5229
12 Noon - 1 PM

Monday, March 14th
Vitamin Trader (Montano between 2nd & 4th St.)
211 Montana Road NW
(505) 344-6060
1 PM - 2 PM

Seating is limited. Getting your ticket doesn't ensure you'll get into the venue, but you must have a ticket to enter.

More info at:
https://www.abqtalk.com/main.html