Senator Crystal Diamond Stands with County Clerks in Opposition to Amended Senate Bill 144
Renews Call for passage of bipartisan Senate Bill 6
SANTA FE – Following reports that the New Mexico County Clerk’s Affiliate voted overwhelmingly to oppose Senate Bill 144, as amended, Senator Crystal Diamond (District 35-Doña Ana, Hidalgo, Luna, and Sierra), released a statement of support for the clerks and renewed her call for the House to pass Senate Bill 6.
“I stand with our county clerks in strong opposition to the amended SB 144,” said Senator Diamond. “The attempt by House Democrats to logroll a 165-page election amendment into a simple 2-page bill is outrageous. Even more problematic is that the sponsors of the amendment clearly did not consult with those responsible for running our elections—our county clerks.”
During the public hearing on SB 144, Democratic legislators, Representative Damon Ely and Senator Katy Duhigg, shocked the clerks and other concerned citizens when they introduced the unexpected amendment. The clerks and members of the public were not given ample time to review the amendment before it was adopted on a party-line vote, with all Republicans opposing the measure.
“Almost two weeks ago, the Senate sent a bipartisan election bill to the House,” added Senator Diamond. “SB 6 was endorsed by the county clerks and the Secretary of State, and passed the Senate on a 39-0 vote. Unfortunately, instead of passing the consensus legislation, the Democrats took some of the worst provisions of the Governor’s radical election bill (SB 8) and shoved them into an unrelated measure. This is a slap in the face to the county clerks and everyone else who worked tirelessly on SB 6. I urge my colleagues in both chambers to reject the amendment on SB 144 and to pass SB 6 in its current form.”
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