New Mexico Voting Rights Act and Election Infrastructure Bill

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver championed the New Mexico Voting Rights Act (HB4) and the Election Infrastructure Bill (SB 180) which includes a number of critical provisions to expanding ballot access while enhancing ballot integrity. 

 The Voting Rights Act includes provisions to restore voting rights for formerly incarcerated individuals; strengthen New Mexico’s automatic voter registration system; create a permanent absentee ballot list and expand the use of secure ballot drop-boxes; and most notably, a provision titled the “Native American Voting Rights Act”, the first of its kind in the entire country, which protects ballot access for Indian, Tribal, and Pueblo communities.

 SB 180 brings New Mexico’s election infrastructure, allows candidates to pursue digital petition collection options, creates more layers of protection to ensure the integrity of absentee ballots, and reflects the growing preference for absentee voting. It also creates a more substantive process by which New Mexico’s elections are audited to ensure accurate and reliable results, while also including provisions for local officials to verify and streamline those and related processes.

 

Impact

Both bills were signed into law in 2023 and Secretary of State Toulouse Oliver successfully completed the rule-making process and will phase in provisions of the bills over time. The Secretary of State’s office will use funds from the Help America Vote Act to conduct a study in partnership with the University of New Mexico’s political science department to measure policy impact, voter trends, and voter perceptions of New Mexico’s election practices.

CompassionateUSA

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

As part of the city’s broader violence prevention strategy, San Antonio Mayor Ron Nirenberg collaborated with the Alamo Colleges District and the San Antonio Peace Center to launch CompassionateUSA. Compassionate USA is a people-centered campaign with an accompanying micro-course to promote compassion and community healing. These courses help develop foundational skills, a common language, and shared practices for all ages and communities and increase individual and community capacity and resilience on a systemic level. The city made the program freely available to every city, town, and territory across the United States.

 

Impact

With close to 300 participating communities, stories are already coming in from across the U.S. and beyond on how the program is influencing policies to reflect the ethic of reciprocity. For example, teaching hospitals requiring compassionate care training and including the curriculum in pre-K and PhD programs. The campaign portion will continue to run indefinitely as a globally accessible and educated network at no-cost.

Access to Accurate and Timely Election Information 

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

Delaware Representative Krista Griffith’s HB 82 which was signed into law in 2023, will ensure voters have access to information concerning polling locations, times, dates, and more. This bill directs the Department of Elections to biennially mail a notice to all registered voters containing pertinent information, including their polling place, the dates and times of the general and any primary elections, registration deadlines, and polling place and early voting policies and procedures.

Prior to the legislation, voters received a card in the mail with their polling location and election districts, but the cards did not give residents the full picture of voting options, such as how to cast ballots during early voting and the criteria for absentee voting.

Impact

This legislation was a direct result of conversations with voters who expressed frustration with not knowing all methods of voting. This legislation will give voters the tools they need to make a plan to vote and will provide new tools to engage voters.

Creating a More Inclusive Redistricting Process

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Amanda Gonzalez reimagining the process for community-led redistricting, creating a more citizen focused and transparent process. There is no more fundamental right than for voters to freely choose who represents them. Gonzalez’s new county redistricting policy and practice in Jefferson County resulted in one of the most inclusive and engaging processes in the state.

The process was guided by three principles: accessibility, inclusion, and legal compliance. Rather than drawing lines in a backroom out of the public eye, the Clerk and Recorder’s office created a policy that created maps with public input, provided virtual and in-person ways for the public to have their voice heard, and ultimately drew the final version of a map in front of a public audience.

Impact

The process resulted in increased public engagement, including reaching over 17,000 people virtually and in person at public meetings at geographically diverse locations that were ADA accessible. The Clerk’s office provided the county commissioners and the public with a preliminary map to consider and revised the map to include feedback from community members. The commissioners then made final edits to the map during a public meeting.

Expanded Protections for Election Workers

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

California Senator Josh Becker introduced SB 485 aimed at restore voters’ confidence in the electoral process by addressing the surge in aggression from voters who refuse to accept election outcomes. The bill will expand the existing felony of interfering with election officials, voters, and the voting process to protect temporary election workers. Additionally, this legislation will broaden the definition of “voting at an election” to encompass in-person voting at polling places, the office of the election official, satellite locations, and voting by mail.

 Temporary workers, who often play critical roles in election administration, deserve the same level of protection as other election officials. Ensuring their safety while carrying out their duties is crucial to maintaining the efficient functioning of elections. The bill’s broader definition of “voting at an election” is equally significant and encompasses various voting methods, including in-person voting at polling places, the office of the election official, satellite locations, and voting by mail.”

 

Impact

By providing a stronger legal framework to hold those who engage in disruptive and aggressive behavior accountable, victims have more recourse, and individuals who commit such offenses will face appropriate consequences. The bill’s effectiveness will be tracked through the number of reported incidents using data from the Secretary of State’s Election Voter Complaint Portal. Becker is hopeful that the bill will ultimately decrease any violence or aggression directed toward election workers.

Community Co-Design

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

The City of Rochester’s Mayor Kim Norton has taken steps to ensure the authentic and meaningful use of community engagement to drive decision-making at the policy, program, and community design levels. Involving people directly impacted by decisions from the start and utilizing their experiences, ideas, and input alongside the expertise of professionals helps optimize the city’s development. 

Rochester used the co-design methodology on issues such as housing, workforce, sustainability, and street design. The program is bringing together community members and industry professionals to address cultural, economic, and other barriers to create an equitable, just, and sustainable city. Norton aims to ensure the city takes action with people and not to them as the city grows and changes in size and demographics.

Impact:

The program has resulted in more diverse representation on committees and community boards. Including: local artists working on street design in the downtown redevelopment effort, secured a $1 million grant from Bloomberg Philanthropies focused on Equity in the Built Environment, which helped to diversify the city’s construction and trades, and in their sustainability and resiliency planning. Additionally, the city hopes to see growing diversity at their community events and are pleased to see Mayor Norton invited to many cultural events.

Anti-Doxxing Legislation to Protect Privacy and Free Speech

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

New legislation, sponsored by Oregon Representative Janelle Bynum will provide a cause of action to recover damages for disclosure of private information such as personal contact data or social security numbers. Known as Doxxing, or publicly sharing information with the intent to intimidate or silence an individual or organization, this nefarious tool can stem public discourse and threatens individual privacy. With the support of a broad coalition of stakeholders ranging from journalists, constituents, to law enforcement personnel, Btnym narrowly tailored the bill to provide effective deterrence against doxing without chilling free exercise or other first amendment rights.

Impact:

The cause of the action is novel, and lawyers are just learning how to use this as a tool to protect privacy rights. Bynum hopes the doxxing cases that are just now being filed will strike a balance to ameliorate the impact of aggressive doxxing activity while also protecting free speech.

Juneteenth Bill

2023 Ideas Challenge Entry

Alabama Representative Jeremy Gray proposes adding Juneteenth as a state holiday; and deleting repetitive language and making non-substantive, technical revisions to update the existing code language to the current style.

Impact:

Juneteenth would be a recognized state holiday in Alabama, helping recognize and celebrate the rich history of African Americans in the state.

Michigan Senator Darrin Camilleri Introduced the Michigan Voting Rights Act

Michigan: Senator Darrin Camilleri introduced the Michigan Voting Rights Act (MVRA), a package of bills that would improve many aspects of elections. The four bill package was developed in coordination with Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson, a NewDEAL Leader and chair of the NewDEAL Forum Democracy Working Group, and would improve access for voter with disabilities and language minority groups, prohibit intimidation, coercion, and deceptive actions, and protect all voters from obstacles to casting their ballots. “This historic legislation is desperately needed to help counter ongoing attacks on voting both nationally and right here in Michigan,” said Sen. Camilleri.

NewDEAL Secretaries of State Steve Simon & Adrian Fontes Tighten Election Security, Increase Transparency

NewDEAL Leaders across the country continue to strengthen election security, accessibility, and transparency ahead of the 2024 election. In Minnesota, NewDEALer Secretary of State Steve Simon led a team of election officials through the testing of new, federally-approved voting machines at an open meeting this week. Not only is testing the machines required to ensure accuracy and security, but it also allows Minnesota voters to witness firsthand the tabulation process, promoting transparency in election administration in a way that other states can replicate. It’s why public machine testing was included in the NewDEAL Forum’s Democracy Playbook released earlier this year.

Meanwhile, in Arizona, NewDEALer Secretary of State Adrian Fontes is also working to restore public trust in elections as he leads a bipartisan task force alongside Republican and former Maricopa County Recorder Helen Purcell, Fontes is collaborating across the aisle in areas like tightening election security standards and increasing transparency. “We’re not always going to agree on everything,” Fontes said of the spectrum of political affiliations in the group. “But that doesn’t mean that we don’t try. We have to try for the betterment of the State of Arizona… for better systems for our citizens.”

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