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. 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. 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