Latest attempt to open NM primary elections clears first hurdle at Roundhouse

SANTA FE — More than 330,000 New Mexico independent voters would be able to vote in primary elections without having to change their party affiliation, under a bill that cleared its first Senate committee Wednesday with bipartisan support.

The Senate Rules Committee voted 6-3 to advance the measure, Senate Bill 16, which is similar to legislation that has failed to win approval at the Roundhouse in recent years.

Sila Avcil, executive director of the advocacy group New Mexico Open Elections, said she’s optimistic the bill could make it across the finish line during this year’s 60-day legislative session.

“We really think this is the year,” Avcil said after Wednesday’s hearing.

She also said many young independent voters currently feel disenfranchised due to the state’s primary election system, with some less likely to then vote in general elections.

Independents, or voters who decline to state a political affiliation, have made up an increasingly larger share of New Mexico’s voter rolls in recent years.

As of last month, they represented more than 23% of the state’s 1.4 million registered voters, according to Secretary of State’s Office data.

Under the state’s current system, most recently revised in 2020, independents can only vote in primary elections if they first change their party affiliation to Democrat or Republican.

Only a small percentage of independent voters have utilized that option, however, with fewer than 1% of such voters casting ballots in the state’s 2022 primary election.

The bill debated Wednesday would not fully open New Mexico’s primary elections by allowing all registered voters to pick and choose from among all candidates. Rather, the proposal would allow independent voters to request a major party’s primary ballot and then decide who to vote for.

Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver testified in favor of the bill Wednesday, saying that open primaries have been shown to increase voter participation rates.

She also said research has shown such a structure does not tend to favor any particular political party over another.

Some senators expressed skepticism over that claim, with Sen. James Townsend, R-Artesia, saying it would likely benefit the Democrats who are sponsoring the bill.

“They certainly wouldn’t be proposing something that undermines or hurts them, you know that as well as I do,” Townsend said.

The bill did draw support from one Republican senator, with Sen. Crystal Brantley of Elephant Butte saying she is “sick and tired” of the current two-party system.

“I don’t represent the values of a party — I represent the values of Senate District 35,” added Brantley, who was first elected in 2020 after a powerful Democratic incumbent was ousted in that year’s primary election.

The measure now advances to the Senate Judiciary Committee.