NEW MEXICO’S MOONSHOT OF INVESTMENTS
Democracy
This is what good government looks like
A model for U.S. elections
In 2024, MIT ranked New Mexico elections as among the best-run in the U.S.
They scored our state at 87%.
Since the passage of the national Civil Rights Act in 1965—and even before—New Mexicans have believed in and pushed hard to expand the U.S. Constitution and its principles of liberty and justice for all. Before New Mexico even became a state, organizers convened in Albuquerque for women’s suffrage. Fifty years later, in 1948, a federal court in Santa Fe ruled that Native Americans must be given the right to vote. New Mexicans have fought for and proved that in their state, diversity and democracy are one and the same.
The Constitution grants states the sovereign right to administer elections. New Mexico has ensured that every eligible voter is able to do so, and that all lawful votes are counted.
Every voice matters
In the last decades, multiple communities and advocacy groups in our state pushed to expand voting access. Their efforts culminated in the passage of the New Mexico Voting Rights Act, a comprehensive election reform bill, sponsored by forty-seven groups, passed by a Democratic majority (all House and Senate Republicans voted against it), and signed into law by Governor Lujan Grisham in 2023. The bill strengthens New Mexico’s election integrity and ensures that every eligible New Mexican can easily register and vote.
The Voting Rights Act
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Removed obstacles to voting for people living on tribal lands. Drop boxes, stronger relationships between tribes and county clerks, allowing voters with non-standard addresses to use a government building as an address, and other changes, made voting more accessible for Native Americans.
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Restored voting rights to people who have done community service or been incarcerated.
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Created a permanent absentee voting list. Voting by mail has been tried and tested and is known to be safe and secure. Voting by mail means people who have mobility or transportation issues can vote. It also reduces unnecessary work for election administrators.
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Instituted an automatic voter registration system so that people showing citizenship and residency documents at the Motor Vehicle Division are automatically registered to vote (as independents, if they don’t select a party). This has added almost 57,000 voters to state rolls in ten months, more than were added in the four years prior.
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Made it illegal to transfer or make voter data public online.
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Mandated same-day voter registration at all polling places.
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Mandated at least two monitored secure ballot drop boxes per county.
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Made Election Day a school holiday, establishing the value of voting for future generations.
No federal interference
In 2026, the state legislature passed legislation to shield New Mexico’s elections from federal interference. The law prevents federal intimidation or in local elections, making it illegal for an armed or other federal agent to get near our polling places. Voters, election workers and prosecutors can file civil lawsuits over intimidation or obstruction and courts would can impose fines, up to $50,000 per violation.
New Mexico’s Secretary of State website reads: “Voter intimidation and discriminatory conduct is illegal under federal and New Mexico law. Any activity that threatens, harasses or intimidates voters, including any activity that is intended to, or has the effect of, interfering with any voter’s right to vote, whether it occurs outside the polling place or inside the polling place is illegal.”
