Duran, Oliver Tension Plays out at Roundhouse

Former secretary of state contenders at odds over advisory question bill

Tension between the two former secretary of state candidates played out in a state House committee hearing over a bill that would give New Mexico's top elections administrator authority in preventing nonbinding advisory questions from inclusion on ballots.

The bill, introduced by Rep. Zach Cook, R-Lincoln, stems from the inclusion of what amount to polling questions, that carry no legal weight, placed on ballots by three counties for last year's November elections.

In September, the state Supreme Court granted Santa Fe and Bernalillo counties a petition to include a question on the statewide November ballot asking voters whether they supported marijuana decriminalization. The high court ruled that Secretary of State Dianna Duran didn't have the authority to decide whether the advisory questions—submitted by county commissions—could be placed on the ballot.

The court didn't address the propriety of the questions, but focused on Duran's power to remove them.

Then, Chavez County placed four advisory questions on its ballot that asked about support for right-to-work legislation, concealed carry, whether wolves should be added to a v

ermin ordinance and eliminating minimum wage requirement for all public works projects in the county.

Cook's bill, supported by the secretary of state's office, would ban "a question for inclusion on the ballot" that is "nonbinding and merely advisory in nature."

Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who tried unsuccessfully to unseat the incumbent Duran in the November election, told House Judiciary Committee members that she has no position on whether advisory questions should be included on the ballot. "As elections administrators," she said, "we have no dog in this fight."

But she said she's opposed to language that "inappropriately directs" the secretary of state to enforce what ends up on the ballot. County clerks are responsible for preparing ballots, she argued.

Secretary of State Bureau of Elections Director Bobbi Shearer disagreed. "The secretary of state is prescribing the appearance of the ballot," she said.

Rep. Jim Dines, R-Bernalillo, asked Oliver if she submitted the nonbinding questions to Duran's office last year.

"You're touching on an aspect of things that I was not wanting to go into because I don't want to be characterized or put into the position of disparaging the secretary of state's office," replied Toulouse Oliver, "and I'm not going to do that now."

She said a "new process" created by Duran's office in which the secretary of state acted as the go-between for county clerks and the ballot printer. She alleged Duran's office directed a statewide voting machine vender "not to work with my office directly," which had the impact of Toulouse Oliver not being able to get ballot proofs in a timely fashion.

The Secretary of State's office has not returned a March 10 email asking for a response to her comments.

The bill passed the Republican-controlled committee by a 7-6 vote and is next due to be heard in the House Government, Elections and Indian Affairs Committee.

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