A. Whenever a local public body determines that it is necessary or desirable to conduct a special election:

(1) the governing body shall by resolution issue a public proclamation calling the election. The proclamation shall forthwith be filed with the county clerk no later than seventy days prior to the date for the special election. If the boundaries of the local public body include precincts in multiple counties, the proclamation shall forthwith be filed with each county clerk no later than seventy days prior to the election;

(2) the proclamation shall specify:

(a) the date on which the special election will be held;

(b) the purpose for which the special election is called; and

(c) the text of the ballot question or ballot questions to be voted on;

(3) after filing with the county clerk or clerks the proclamation issued pursuant to this subsection, each county clerk shall post the proclamation beginning no later than sixty-seven days before the election and, beginning not less than sixty-three days before the date of the election, each county clerk shall publish the proclamation once each week for two consecutive weeks in a newspaper of general circulation within the boundaries of the local public body; provided that if the boundaries of the local public body include precincts in multiple counties that share the same newspaper of general circulation, the county clerks may jointly publish the proclamation;

(4) the posting and publication pursuant to this subsection shall also inform the public that the special election will be conducted by mailed ballot, of the date ballots will be initially mailed to voters and of the last day to register to vote or to update an existing registration in advance of the special election; and

(5) the proclamation shall conform to the requirements of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended.

B. Whenever the state determines that it is necessary or desirable to conduct a special election:

(1) the secretary of state shall by resolution issue a public proclamation calling the election. The proclamation shall forthwith be filed with the secretary of state no later than seventy-five days prior to the election;

(2) the proclamation shall specify:

(a) the date on which the special election will be held;

(b) the purpose for which the special election is called; and

(c) the text of the ballot question or ballot questions to be voted upon;

(3) after filing with the secretary of state the proclamation issued pursuant to this subsection, the secretary of state shall within five days certify the proclamation to each county clerk in the state;

(4) the proclamation shall be posted and published in the same manner as provided for a proposed state constitutional amendment pursuant to Section 1-16-4 NMSA 1978;

(5) the posting and publication pursuant to this subsection shall also inform the public that the special election will be conducted by mailed ballot, of the date ballots will be initially mailed to voters and of the last day to register to vote or to update an existing registration in advance of the special election; and

(6) the proclamation shall conform to the requirements of the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, as amended.

History: Laws 1989, ch. 295, § 2; 2011, ch. 137, § 107; 2017, ch. 101, § 19; 2018, ch. 79, § 40; 2019, ch. 212, § 155.

Cross references. — For the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, see 42 U.S.C. § 1973 et seq.

The 2019 amendment, effective April 3, 2019, revised special election procedures; in Subsection A, in the introductory clause, after "Whenever a local", deleted "government special election is to be called or is required by law" and added "public body determines that it is necessary or desirable to conduct a special election:", added paragraph designations "(1)" and "(2)" and redesignated former Paragraphs A(1) through A(3) as Subparagraphs A(2)(a) through A(2)(c), respectively; in Paragraph A(1), after "filed with the county clerk", added the remainder of the paragraph, deleted former Paragraph A(4) and redesignated former Subsections B and C as Paragraph A(3) and Subsection B, respectively, in Paragraph A(3), after "issued pursuant to", deleted "Subsection A of this section" and added "this subsection, each county clerk shall post the proclamation beginning no later than sixty-seven days before the election", and after "boundaries of the local", deleted "government or special district" and added the remainder of the paragraph, added new Paragraph A(4) and new paragraph designation "(5)"; in Subsection B, after "Whenever", deleted "a statewide special election is to be called or is required by law" and added 'the state determines that it is necessary or desirable to conduct a special election:", added paragraph designations "(1)" and "(2)", deleted former Paragraphs B(3) and B(5) and redesignated former Paragraph C(4) as Subparagraph B(2)(c), in Paragraph B(1), after the first occurrence of "the", deleted "governor" and added "secretary of state", after "calling the election.", deleted "Whenever an election to fill a vacancy in the office of United States representative is to be called or is required by law, the governor shall by resolution issue a public proclamation calling the election pursuant to the requirements of Section 1-15-18.1 NMSA 1978", and after "filed with the secretary of state", added "no later than seventy-five days prior to the election;", in Paragraph B(2), redesignated former Paragraphs C(1) and C(2) as Subparagraphs B(2)(a) and B(2)(b), respectively, in Paragraph B(3), after "after", added "filing with the secretary of state", after "pursuant to" deleted "Subsection C of this section is filed with the secretary of state" and added "this subsection", and deleted the last sentence of the paragraph, which related to publishing the proclamation; and deleted former Subsection E and added Paragraphs B(4) and B(5) and new subsection designation "(6)".

The 2018 amendment, effective July 1, 2018, revised the required contents of a public proclamation calling for a special election, and required the county clerk to publish the proclamation; in Subsection A, deleted former Paragraph A(3) and paragraph designation "(4)", added new paragraph designation "(3)", deleted former Paragraphs A(5) and A(6) and redesignated former Paragraph A(7) as Paragraph A(4); in Subsection B, after "Subsection A of this section, and", added "beginning", and after "the date of the election, the", deleted "governing body" and added "county clerk"; in Paragraph C(4), deleted "if a question is" and added "the text of any questions", and after "voted upon", deleted "the text of that question"; in Subsection D, after "newspaper of general circulation", deleted "which shall include the precincts in the county in which the election is to be held and the location of each polling place in the precinct and the hours that each polling place will be open"; and added new subsection designation "E.".

The 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, changed the deadline by which the governing body of the local government calling for a local government special election must publish the proclamation that calls for the local government special election, and changed the deadline by which the county clerk must publish the proclamation that calls for a statewide special election whenever a statewide special election is to be called or is required by law; and in Subsections B and D, after "Not less than", deleted "fifty-six" and added "sixty-three".

The 2011 amendment, effective July 1, 2011, made Subsection A applicable to local government special elections; and provided a procedure for issuing, certifying, and publishing proclamations calling statewide special elections and elections to fill a vacancy in the office of United States representative.