NM House passes law shielding elections from federal interference

After three hours of debate, mostly on a failed amendment to add voter ID requirements, the New Mexico House on Tuesday evening passed a bill 41-26 along party lines proposing to prevent troops or other law enforcement from interfering in the state’s elections.

Senate Bill 264 contains multiple new sections to the state election code, including ones that aim to prevent federal intimidation or obtrusion in local elections. Federal law already bans armed troops from polling places, but sponsors said the actions taken by President Donald Trump to nationalize elections — which include suing the state over access to its voter rolls — pose a threat to democracy.

“There have been threats to nationalize our elections, contrary to the clear direction of the US Constitution, and this bill is before us today because we have a duty to act and prevent New Mexicans’ right to vote from being infringed upon,” House Majority Floor Leader Rep. Reena Szczepanski (D-Santa Fe) said on the floor.

The bill would also require county clerks to adopt emergency procedures to request police help in emergencies and creates a fourth degree felony for “intentionally obstructing access to polling places,” which applies 28 days before and up to an election.

Rep. John Block (R-Alamogordo) introduced a 32-page floor amendment that proposed new proof of citizenship and voter identification requirements that failed to pass.

The bill has sparked partisan rancor during the session. It passed the Senate along a party-line 26-16 vote Sunday and now heads to Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.