Ex-cons -- as many as 11,000 -- in New Mexico are impacted by voting obstacles. So some have sued.

State lawmakers last year restored voting rights to an estimated 11,000 New Mexicans released from prison after serving time for felony charges.

But for some of the eligible felons, their voting registrations have been improperly denied because of inaccurate information provided by the Secretary of State and the New Mexico Corrections Department, a complaint filed in Santa Fe state district court says.

A group called Millions For Prisoners New Mexico contends the actions by state officials violate the constitutional right to vote and right to equal protection of the law. The group is suing Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, Bernalillo County Clerk Linda Stover, and the state Corrections Department.

“Plaintiffs are New Mexicans with past felony convictions — veterans, grandmothers, (Cub Scout) moms, hard-working employees, taxpayers, friends and neighbors — an organization that represents and assists such New Mexicans, seeking to restore their voting rights and ensure they can vote in the November 5. 2024 general election,” states the lawsuit filed by Santa Fe attorney Daniel Yohalem and the Campaign Legal Center based in Washington.

Some have successfully managed to register, Yohalem said Monday. But others have been sent rejection letters by some county clerks who have relied on inaccurate or old information provided to the Secretary of State’s Office by the Corrections Department. Up to 11,000 New Mexicans are potentially affected, he said.

“One of the people (affected) was never incarcerated,” Yohalem said.

Up until the change, felons on probation or parole were ineligible to register or vote, as well as those incarcerated. The New Mexico Voting Rights Act enacted in 2023 now permits felons to register and vote once they leave prison, regardless of whether they are on probation or parole.

The provision was one of the numerous “pro-voter mechanisms” in the measure that were aimed at reducing “the bureaucracy surrounding registering and voting that may frustrate or prevent certain qualified electors from participating in the voting process, without compromising sensible security and administration practices,” according to a legislative analysis.

The Secretary of State expected the procedures to immediately reinstate voting rights when a convicted felon is released from incarceration to “simplify the administrative burden on the SOS and county clerks to register these individuals,” the legislative analysis stated.

“Unfortunately, over one year later, many potential voters who were enfranchised by the NMVRA have been unable to register and vote because of unnecessary barriers and burdens created by the Defendants,” states the lawsuit.

The lawsuit faults Toulouse Oliver and Stover with denying the registration applications of eligible voters with past felony convictions and requiring them to register in person to overcome those denials.

It also alleges that the state Corrections Department Cabinet Secretary Alisha Tafoya Lucero has failed to deliver to the SOS information and data necessary to carry out the relevant provisions of the new law.

“To the contrary, Defendant Tafoya Lucero has delivered woefully inaccurate information that has stymied the relevant provisions of the NMVRA,” the lawsuit states.

The Corrections Department said through a spokeswoman on Monday that it doesn’t comment on pending litigation.

Asked about the lawsuit Monday, Secretary of State spokesman Alex Curtas said Toulouse Oliver has long been committed to ensuring every eligible New Mexican has an opportunity to register to vote in accordance with state and federal law.”

“Our Office worked closely with the Motor Vehicle Division and the New Mexico Department of Corrections after the enactment of the Voting Rights Act in 2023 to ensure eligible voters exiting correctional facilities had access to the voter registration process as soon as possible. When we receive data from state agencies that a person is no longer incarcerated, that individual may register to vote,” Curtas told the Journal in an email.

“Certainly, if a person is no longer incarcerated and appears in-person at a County Clerk’s Office, polling location, certain state agencies, or the motor vehicle division, that person is now legally presumed to meet the requirement of not being incarcerated and can register to vote,” Curtas added.

As of the end of September , hundreds of voters have been registered or updated their registration during the reentry phase of their sentence at correctional facilities across the state pursuant to state law, Curtas said.

Curtas said that in September, “after being made aware of the Campaign Legal Center’s concerns, our Office’s leadership began working with the Campaign Legal Center to address them. Unfortunately, despite our good faith efforts, the Center proceeded with its filing before some of the agreed upon measures had taken place.”

The lawsuit, filed in Santa Fe state district court, asks that the defendants be barred from enforcing the in-person registration requirement for eligible voters who are felons, and that Toulouse Oliver be required to issue guidance to county clerks that they must accept a voter registrant’s attestation on a voter registration form that they are not currently incarcerated as evidence of their eligibility to register to vote.

The plaintiffs also want Toulouse Oliver to instruct all county clerks, including Stover, to reprocess all voter registration forms submitted by voters with felony convictions that were improperly denied since July 1, 2023 when the law went into effect. And it asks a judge to order Stover to register those voters who were denied based on unreliable information provide by the state, and to inform new registrants that they have been registered.

Stover couldn’t be reached for comment on Monday.