2018 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 3 - Municipalities
Article 30 - Municipal Debt; Voting on Question
Section 3-30-3 - Nonresident municipal elector; manner of registering to vote on question of creating a municipal debt; certificate of eligibility.

Not more than sixty nor less than fifteen days before the day of a municipal election on the question of creating a debt, any nonresident municipal elector desiring to vote on the question of creating a municipal debt shall file with the municipal clerk a certificate of eligibility which shall be the registration required of the nonresident municipal elector for voting at a municipal election on the question of creating a debt. The certificate of eligibility shall be in substantially the following form:

"I, _____________, (Last Name, First Name, Middle Name), desire to vote at the municipal election to be held on _______ (Insert date of election) and request the county clerk and county treasurer of _________ (Insert name of county) to certify that I am a nonresident municipal elector of the _________ (Insert name of the municipality). Signed: _________________________ (Signature of nonresident municipal elector) I hereby certify that the above named nonresident municipal elector is registered to vote in this county. Signed: _________________________ (County Clerk) I hereby certify that the above named nonresident municipal elector has paid a tax on property within the _________ (Insert name of the municipality) during the preceding year to wit on the _____ day of ___________, 19 _____. Signed: _________________________" (County Treasurer)

History: 1953 Comp., § 14-29-3, enacted by Laws 1965, ch. 300.

Constitutionality. — This section does not fall within constitutional prohibition against special or local laws regulating precinct affairs. City of Raton v. Sproule, 1967-NMSC-141, 78 N.M. 138, 429 P.2d 336.

The operable provisions of N.M. Const., art. IX, § 12, as interpreted by the New Mexico Supreme Court and the classifications and requirements of the enabling statutes for creation of municipal indebtedness, 3-30-2 NMSA 1978, this section, and 3-30-6 NMSA 1978, rationally promote legitimate state interests and are constitutionally justified. Snead v. City of Albuquerque, 663 F. Supp. 1084 (D.N.M. 1987), aff'd, 841 F.2d 1131 (10th Cir. 1987), cert. denied, 485 U.S. 1009, 108 S. Ct. 1475, 99 L. Ed. 2d 704 (1988).

Constitutional voter qualifications not affected. — That additional electors may now vote in municipal bond elections cannot be held to apply to or affect the general voter qualifications set forth in N.M. Const., art. VII, § 1. The voter qualifications expressly recited in that constitutional provision remain exactly the same. City of Raton v. Sproule, 1967-NMSC-141, 78 N.M. 138, 429 P.2d 336.

Limitation of electors to those property owners who are otherwise qualified to vote in the county is based upon the practical and reasonable consideration that in New Mexico the voter registration records are kept and maintained by the county clerk, are readily available for use in checking qualifications of electors and are used by the municipalities in the county in the conduct of municipal elections. City of Raton v. Sproule, 1967-NMSC-141, 78 N.M. 138, 429 P.2d 336.

Law reviews. — For comment, "The Last Bastion Crumbles: All Property Restrictions on Franchise Are Unconstitutional," see 1 N.M.L. Rev. 403 (1971).