The New Mexico State Legislature voted to send an amendment to voters in November that would repeal the constitutional requirement that school elections be held at different times from partisan elections, allowing them to be held on the same dates as partisan elections, such as statewide and federal elections.
The amendment, Senate Joint Resolution 1 (SJR 1), passed the state Senate by a vote of 38-0, with four members not voting, on Feb. 5. SJR 1 passed the state House by a vote of 50-9, with 11 members not voting, on Feb. 19. It received support from 100% of voting Democrats and 77% of voting Republicans.
The constitutional provision, dating back to the 1910 constitutional convention, required 12 school district elections in 2024, according to the secretary of state.
The state legislature tried to change this requirement in 2008 by referring Amendment 4 to the ballot. It would have changed this sentence in Article VII as follows: “All school elections shall be held at different times from [other] partisan elections.” It was approved by a margin of 74% to 26%. However, the New Mexico Compilation Commission did not update the constitution to reflect the change because it was not approved by three-fourths of voters (75%), which is required by Section 3 of Article VII for amendments that restrict rights.
In 2014, voters decided on a similar amendment to Amendment 4 (2008). It was also defeated because it did not meet the three-fourths supermajority requirement. The vote margin was 58% in support to 42% opposed.
The League of Women Voters of New Mexico filed a lawsuit arguing that the supermajority requirement does not apply because the 2008 and 2014 amendments do not restrict rights; therefore, they should be considered approved by a simple majority. The New Mexico Supreme Court ruled in favor of the League of Women Voters and ordered the compilation commission to apply the 2008 and 2014 amendments to the ballot.
In 2018, the state legislature passed the Local Election Act, which authorized the consolidation of local and municipal elections, including school elections. Prior to the act, school elections were held on the first Tuesday in February in odd-numbered years.
New Mexico is one of 25 states that have mostly off-cycle school board elections. The map below shows whether most school board elections in the state are held on-cycle (November of even-numbered years) or off-cycle.
The New Mexico State Legislature adjourned on Feb. 19. In addition to this amendment, voters will see three other amendments on the ballot related to changing the state Board of Regents, eliminating the governor’s pocket veto, and setting state legislators’ salaries equal to the annual median household income of the state.
Additional reading: