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Senate committee advances bill to bar outside armed interference and add civil remedies for voter intimidation
Summary
The Senate Rules Committee advanced a substitute to SB 264 to criminalize and civilly penalize unlawful interference in New Mexico elections, add a narrowly defined ‘under color of law’ standard, and create emergency electronic ballot transmission for displaced voters; substitute passed 5–3.
An amended proposal to tighten state protections against outside interference in elections moved forward from the New Mexico Senate Rules Committee on a 5–3 vote after hours of testimony and debate.
The substitute for Senate Bill 264 would add new statutory definitions (including an "under color of law" standard and a defined "peace officer"), criminalize deliberate efforts to bring troops or armed persons to polling sites or within 50 feet of ballot drop boxes during the voting period, and create both criminal penalties and civil enforcement. The sponsor said New Mexico ranks first in MIT’s Elections Performance Index and argued the bill gives the state tools to block unlawful federal or other interference amid recent national rhetoric questioning state elections.
Under the substitute, deliberate interference can be prosecuted as…
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