Articles Tagged ‘Voters’ Rights’

Current ABQ City Council Districts

ALBUQUERQUE, NM – Today, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico filed a lawsuit in state district court, demanding that the City of Albuquerque reverse its decision to postpone redistricting until after the upcoming city council elections in October 2011. The City is constitutionally required to reapportion voting districts every 10 years following the release of federal census data to ensure equal representation among voters. 2010 census data shows that Albuquerque’s West Side experienced significant population growth, while other areas of the city remained stagnant or shrunk in population. By unlawfully postponing redistricting, the ACLU believes the Albuquerque City Council will dilute the voting power of residents on the West Side.

“At the heart of our democracy is the principle of ‘one person, one vote’,” said ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson. “When one city council district is grossly underrepresented, other areas of the city speak with a louder voice when it comes to making decisions about political leadership, bond proposals, and other important issues that affect us all. Failing to redistrict waters down the vote of citizens living in high-growth areas.”

The City of Albuquerque is divided into nine separate districts, each holding one seat on the city council. By law the boundaries of these districts must be drawn in such a way that each district is roughly equal in population. According to the latest census data, District 1 and District 5—both on the West Side—have 90,170 and 83,165 residents respectively. The remaining seven districts all have constituencies ranging in the low to mid-50,000 range.

For the past three decades following the release of new census data, the City of Albuquerque has moved swiftly to redistrict before the next city council election, ensuring that all areas of the city remained equally represented. This year, with full knowledge of the current major imbalance, the city chose to postpone redistricting until after the October 2011 city council election.

“The entire purpose of census data is to make sure that our government accurately represents who we are and the communities we live in,” said ACLU-NM cooperating attorney David Urias. “By ignoring the latest census data, the Albuquerque City Council devalues the votes of almost two-fifths of the city’s population.”

In its lawsuit on behalf of the more than 170,000 people currently living on the underrepresented West Side, the ACLU of New Mexico asks the court to prohibit the City Council of the City of Albuquerque from holding elections until they have completed redistricting as required under the Constitution.

Read a full copy of the complaint here: Redistricting Complaint

The attorneys on this case are ACLU-NM Managing Attorney Laura Schauer Ives, ACLU-NM Staff Attorney Alex Freedman Smith, ACLU-NM Co-Legal Director Matthew Garcia and ACLU-NM cooperating attorneys John Boyd and David Urias.

June 6, 2011

CONTACT: Micah McCoy, (505) 266-5915 or mmccoy@aclu-nm.org

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httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fx_rYBM1yv8

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

March 16, 2011

CONTACT: Micah McCoy, (505) 266-5915 x1003 or mmccoy@aclu-nm.org

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – Today, the American Civil Liberties Union of New Mexico (ACLU-NM) filed public records requests with the Office of Governor Susana Martinez and the NM Secretary of State seeking all records and correspondence related to Secretary of State Dianna Duran’s announcement yesterday that her office had uncovered possible instances of voter fraud by foreign nationals. Through the requests, the ACLU-NM seeks to ensure the transparency and objectivity of the investigation.

“We want to know the motivations behind this investigation and the validity of any assertions that the New Mexico law allowing drivers licenses for all immigrants contributed to voter fraud,” said ACLU-NM Executive Director Peter Simonson. “We take claims of voter fraud seriously because they undermine voter confidence in our electoral system and tend to discourage participation in elections. We also wish to ensure that any exchange of records in this investigation did not violate voter privacy guarantees that are written into state law.”

In 2008, the ACLU-NM sued the Republican Party of New Mexico and the Bernalillo County Clerk’s Office for illegally releasing confidential voter registration information to the public in an attempt to prove voter fraud.

The ACLU-NM requested the following information from the Governor’s office:

• All records pertaining to possible voter fraud and/or any irregularities noted in the master list of registered voters in New Mexico involving foreign nationals, including, but not limited to, any memoranda, correspondence, including email, and/or notes that discuss voter fraud and/or irregularities between the Office of the Governor and the Office of the Secretary of State.

The ACLU-NM requested the following information from the Secretary of State:

• All records pertaining to possible voter fraud and/or any irregularities noted in the master list of registered voters in New Mexico involving foreign nationals, including, but not limited to, any memoranda, correspondence, including email, and/or notes that discuss voter fraud and/or irregularities and the Office of the Secretary of State’s search for voter fraud in voter rolls and registrations.
• All records that support the Office of the Secretary of State’s allegations of possible voter fraud and/or any irregularities noted in the master list of registered voters in New Mexico involving foreign nationals, including, but not limited to the voter registrations in question.
• Any documents that reflect communications between the Office of the Secretary of State and any one at the Governor’s Office related to alleged and/or proven voter fraud involving foreign nationals and/or any irregularities noted in the master list of registered voters in New Mexico.
• Any documents that reflect communications between the Office of the Secretary of State and the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division related to alleged and/or proven voter fraud involving foreign nationals and/or any irregularities noted in the master list of registered voters in New Mexico.
• Any documents that reflect communication between the Office of the Secretary of State and any federal agency related to alleged and/or proven voter fraud involving foreign nationals and/or any irregularities noted in the master list of registered voters in New Mexico.
• Any documents that reflect communication between any parties outside of the Office of the Secretary of State—including, but not limited to faculty at the University of New Mexico and representatives of any political party—and the Office of the Secretary of State related to alleged and/or proven voter fraud involving foreign nationals and/or any irregularities noted in the master list of registered voters in New Mexico.

“The public deserves to know how the government is using their voting records and personal information and to what end,” said ACLU-NM Managing Attorney Laura Schauer Ives. “Allegations of voter fraud are serious and should be subject to thorough, non-partisan scrutiny.”

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By Peter Simonson, ACLU-NM Executive Director

The GOP’s efforts to convince voters that the election system is wracked by fraud took another hit last week when the NM Court of Appeals rejected the Party’s effort to get a hold of the names and addresses of undocumented immigrants who have received state driver’s licenses.  The GOP had hoped to use the information to check whether non-citizen immigrants were registered to vote in New Mexico.

Talk about a wild goose chase.  What immigrant is going to risk felony charges, permanent deportation, and the total upheaval of his or her family just to cast a ballot in a US election?  Barely fifty percent of American citizens exercise that right even in the best of years!

What’s really concerning is how readily local GOP leaders will sacrifice individuals’ right to privacy in the zeal to find evidence of voter fraud.  Two years ago the ACLU sued members of the Republican Party for violating state privacy laws after the Party obtained copies of individual voter registration forms and released the information to the press.  GOP members also used the information to track down lawful voters and challenge their right to vote in their homes.

Americans don’t need another disincentive to vote, like the belief that fraud so compromises the election system that voting is fruitless.  If the GOP truly has the best interests of our electoral democracy in mind, it should devote its effort to encouraging New Mexicans to take part in elections.  It could start by promoting mobile vote registration campaigns and removing ID requirements for voting in Albuquerque elections.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, October 27, 2008

CONTACT: Whitney Potter (505) 507-9898; wpotter@aclu-nm.org

ALBUQUERQUE—The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico today sued key members of the Republican Party for violating the privacy rights of New Mexico voters and illegally interfering with their right to vote.  Filed in state district court, the class action suit alleges that NM Representative Justine Fox-Young and as yet unnamed members of the GOP illegally used private social security numbers to do background checks of legal voters and illegally disseminated confidential voter information to the press.  The lawsuit also names private investigator Al Romero, hired by the GOP, for using voter registration information locate voters and question them about the legitimacy of their registrations.

“Today we are declaring ‘enough is enough,’” said ACLU Executive Director Peter Simonson.  “We are not going to stand by and watch the Republican Party break laws to interfere with New Mexicans’ private and constitutional right to participate in the upcoming election.  Something had to be done immediately to confront these abuses, so we have taken action.”

In an October 16 press conference, Representative Fox-Young announced that members of the Republican Party used social security numbers from 92 voter registration forms, which they obtained from an as yet undetermined source, to run credit checks and driver’s license checks.  They sent copies of the forms to the press, including 7 unredacted dates of birth.

According to New Mexico state law, “It is unlawful for the qualified elector’s date of birth or any portion of the qualified elector’s social security number required on the certificate of registration to be copied, conveyed, or used by anyone other than the person registering to vote, either before or after it is filed with the county clerk.”  A person who violates this law is guilty of a fourth degree felony.

On October 22, the ACLU sent a letter to the NM Attorney General’s office calling for a criminal investigation into the matter.  The office has assigned an investigator but no further information is available.

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The mission of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) of New Mexico is to maintain and advance the cause of civil liberties within the state of New Mexico, with particular emphasis on the freedom of religion, speech, press, association, and assemblage, and the right to vote, due process of law and equal protection of law, and to take any legitimate action in the furtherance and defense of such purposes. These objectives shall be sought wholly without political partisanship.

Related Documents:

GOP Complaint