Letter in Support of New Mexico Legislation to Expand Voting Rights to All

February 26, 2025

State Representative Javier Martinez
Speaker of the House
490 Old Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe, NM, 87501

State Senator Mimi Stewart
President Pro Tempore
490 Old Santa Fe Trail
Santa Fe, NM, 87501

Re: HOUSE JOINT RESOLUTION 10 — VOTING WITH A FELONY CONVICTION

Dear Speaker Martinez and Senate President Stewart:

We, the undersigned advocacy, civil and human rights, and faith organizations urge your support for HJR 10 to allow voting with a felony conviction in New Mexico.

We applaud your passage of the 2023 New Mexico Voting Rights Act, which was a welcome step towards ending felony disenfranchisement for people with felony convictions serving their sentencing in the community and enhancing the right to vote for thousands of people affected by the criminal legal system. HJR 10 would make New Mexico a national leader in allowing all eligible voters to participate in elections regardless of their conviction or incarceration status.

HJR 10 WOULD REDUCE RACIAL DISPARITIES AND EXPAND DEMOCRACY

In New Mexico, an estimated 5,331 people cannot vote because they are incarcerated for a felony conviction. HJR10 would address racial disparities in New Mexico that results from this disenfranchisement. Over 1.1% of Black New Mexicans and almost 0.5% of Latino New Mexicans cannot vote due to incarceration for a felony conviction compared to 0.35% of the total voter population in the state.¹

While the New Mexico Voting Rights Act of 2023 enfranchised more than 11,000 people who were completing their sentence in the community on parole or felony probation, HJR10 is the next step to ensure democracy for all New Mexicans.

Disenfranchisement of people with felony convictions can be traced back to policies that limited enfranchisement to wealthy white male property owners and excluded women, African Americans, persons who could not read, poor people, and persons with felony convictions. Over the course of two hundred years all of those voting exclusions have been eliminated with the exception of people with felony convictions. Across the country, more than 4 million people are disenfranchised because of a felony conviction. That number has declined from over 4.4 million in 2022, thanks to advocacy efforts that have returned the right to vote to people with felony convictions in states across the country.

VOTING MATTERS FOR  BETTER PUBLIC SAFETY OUTCOMES

In addition to reasons stated above, lawmakers committed to public safety should extend voting rights to people with criminal legal system involvement because voting has a positive relationship to improved public safety.

Research supports the link between justice-impacted individuals having the right to vote and voting to reduce recidivism. Research in Minnesota demonstrated that those with a criminal history were significantly less likely to be re-arrested if they voted in a presidential election. Furthermore, research shows that voting helps keep justice-impacted citizens connected to their communities and bolsters their civic identity.²

Laws restricting voting by people with felony convictions undermine New Mexico’s democracy and extend the racial injustice embedded in the criminal legal system to its electoral system. Lawmakers should extend voting rights to all citizens, including persons completing felony sentences in prisons or jails.

We urge a favorable report on HJR 10.

Respectfully submitted,

ACLU of New Mexico
Advancement Project
Albuquerque Mutual Aid
Aliso Roots Community Collective LLC
All of Us or None Texas
Asian American Association of New Mexico
Barred Business
Bold Futures NM
Burque Autonomous Brown Berets of New Mexico
Common Cause
Common Cause New Mexico
Creo Therapy Studio LLC
Demos
Ex-incarcerated People Organizing (EXPO Of Wisconsin)
Entrepreneurial Institute of Northern New Mexico
Fair and Just Prosecution
Franciscan Action Network
Franciscans Circle of Justice New Mexico
Friends of Puppet & Object Theatre
Golden Forward
Gordon Bernell Charter School
Guazabara Insights, LLC
Health Equity Alliance for LGBTQ+ New Mexicanas
Human Rights Watch
Illinois Alliance for Reentry and Justice NFP
Incarcerated Workers Organizing Committee
Indivisible Albuquerque
Millions for Prisoners New Mexico
National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers
National Association of Social Workers
New Jersey Institute for Social Justice
NETWORK Lobby for Catholic Social Justice
NM Dream Team
New Mexico Criminal Defense Lawyers Association
Nolef Turns Inc
Muscle & Flow Fitness & Yoga
Oregon Justice Resource Center
Out for Justice, Inc
Prisoners Legal Advocacy Network
ReNforce
The Sentencing Project
Stronger Together Never Alone
Teeniors LLC
T.O.N.E U.P Inc
Unheard Voices Outreach
Voice of the Experienced (VOTE)

cc:
Members of the New Mexico House of Representatives
Members of the New Mexico State Senate