Lujan Grisham signs voting rights bill
Mar 30, 2023 | 2:12 pm ET
Description
During a news conference on the first day of the 2023 legislative session in the rotunda at the state capitol in Santa Fe, advocates held signs which together had 17,000 tally marks, each representing someone in New Mexico denied the right to vote as a result of a felony conviction. The new bill signed into law offers protections to allow people convicted of a felony the right to vote once they are released. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source NM)
Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham on Thursday morning signed House Bill 4 into law, which she said should serve as a model for other states and the federal government.
“This country’s not made voting for Native Americans, women and any number of individuals and groups readily accessible and protected, and it’s really an outrage,” Lujan Grisham said.
“I am very proud that this coalition, the legislature and the Secretary State have made it clear that this is codified in statute and will be the template for every other state in the country. And frankly, it ought to be in federal damn law.
“She said the legislation ought to be motivating the U.S. Congress to pass similar provisions in federal law, “so that no state can roll it back.”
It took a lot to get to this point. And there is plenty to follow now to see how this new law will be applied in the run up to our next elections in 2024. As you’ll see in the reporting below, Source New Mexico has followed this bill for two years and will continue to report on the ramifications of this law and efforts to protect, or disarm, voting rights in the United States.
Santa Fe, NM
