Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse OliverSTATE News:
SANTA FE ― Monday, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver and her staff completed the legislatively-mandated, one-time realignment of certain elected office districts throughout New Mexico in a public meeting that took place in the state capitol building in Santa Fe and was live-streamed on the Legislature’s website.
“The process we used to complete the legislatively-mandated realignment of districts today was transparent and fair and we made sure it affected the smallest number of districts and terms possible,” Secretary Toulouse Oliver said. “I want to thank my staff for their diligent work on completing this realignment as well as the public officials who worked with us throughout the process and the many who attended today’s public meeting or followed along online.”
Today’s meeting proceeded according to the letter that was sent out to governing bodies and office holders throughout the state July 9, 2019 in order to provide clarity to the public about the officers who were affected by this legislatively-mandated realignment process.
It is important to note that today’s process did not change any district boundaries from which candidates are elected. Today’s process was mandated by the Legislature’s passage of House Bill 407 in 2019 and was simply to align all odd- and even-numbered districts with the corresponding ballot on which those offices are elected, which makes the administration of elections more efficient and provides for more voter clarity.
Sec. Toulouse Oliver began today’s meeting with an explanation of the process that would be used to ensure a fair realignment of all odd- and even-numbered districts so that all odd-numbered districts appear on the presidential election ballot and all even-numbered districts appear on the gubernatorial election ballot.
Some districts were renumbered and, where necessary, a drawing of lots took place to determine the renumbering. Some terms of office were extended and, in those instances, a drawing of lots took place to determine which officeholder would receive an extended term. The updated districts numbers, along with the term extensions, take effect immediately.
Follow this link to find details on each of the offices that were affected by the realignment process that took place today and to view a spreadsheet with the final results.
