State of New Mexico
House of Representatives
Ben Lujan, Speaker of the House
Ken Martinez, House Majority Leader
Sheryl Williams Stapleton, House Majority Whip

PRESS RELEASE

For Immediate Release                                                             Contact: Susan Tungate  505-577-8132 February 21, 2009                                                                                                       Victoria Chavez 646-241-5335                                                                                
Rep. Cote’s HB42 Requiring All Qualified Electors and Overseas Voters to Receive
the Entire Ballot in a Federal Election Unanimously Passes the House

Santa Fe, NM-HB42, introduced by Rep. Nathan Cote (D-Las Cruces), which requires that all qualified electors and overseas voters, whether military or civilian, shall receive the entire ballot in a Federal election unanimously passed the House of Representatives today by a vote of 51 to 0.  HB42-Overseas Absentee Ballot Types amends the current act which provides that only qualified electors and members of the uniformed services shall receive the entire ballot and that all other overseas voters should receive only ballots for federal candidates.

“This bill fixes a problem that currently exists for our overseas voters, voters who are not necessarily in the military,” said Rep. Cote. “This came to my attention during the last election when two of my constituents working civil service for the Department of Defense overseas could not vote for state or local candidates, yet they still maintained a house in New Mexico and paid New Mexico taxes.”

HB42 bill now heads to the Senate for consideration.