Pubdate: Tue, 16 Sep 2014
Source: Albuquerque Journal (NM)
Copyright: 2014 Albuquerque Journal
Contact:  http://www.abqjournal.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/10
Author: Dan Mckay
Page: A1

HIGH COURT WILL HEAR BERN. BALLOT ARGUMENTS

Weekend Mailing of Ballots to Be Postponed

The state Supreme Court on Monday ordered election workers to 
postpone the mailing of general-election ballots this weekend until 
the court can decide whether it's legal for the county to add 
advisory questions to the ballot.

The court order came shortly after Bernalillo County filed an 
emergency petition Monday asking justices to intervene and authorize 
the addition of two advisory questions - one centering on marijuana 
decriminalization, the other on raising taxes for mental-health programs.

The Supreme Court agreed to hear oral arguments at 1:30 p.m. Sept. 23 
- - next Tuesday. County election workers had faced a Saturday deadline 
to begin mailing absentee ballots to voters outside New Mexico, such 
as military personnel stationed overseas, but justices ordered them 
to hold off until the court takes further action.

Election results for the two questions wouldn't be binding. They 
simply ask voters for their opinion.

Bernalillo County commissioners authorized legal action earlier 
Monday to get the questions on the Nov. 4 ballot. They voted 3-2 
along party lines, with Democrats in the majority.

Commission Chairwoman Debbie O'Malley, a Democrat, said legal action 
is necessary because Secretary of State Dianna Duran refused to allow 
the marijuana and tax questions on the ballot, even after 
commissioners approved them. "We have, I think, interference from the 
state level," O'Malley said in Monday's special commission meeting. 
"That, to me, is a real, fundamental problem. ... What I'm hearing 
from folks is that they want to vote on this issue."

Commissioners earlier rejected three questions the city had wanted on 
the ballot: giving the City Council approval over the hiring of a 
police chief, issuing bonds for redevelopment projects and changing 
the process for petition initiatives. Those all would have been 
binding decisions.

Duran, a Republican and the state's top election official, contends 
it's illegal to put nonbinding advisory questions on the ballot 
because they don't result in formal action, such as enacting a law or 
imposing a tax. Instead, they're akin to a public opinion poll, she 
said, which is inappropriate for a general-election ballot.

The County Commission's two Republicans, Wayne Johnson and Lonnie 
Talbert, strongly objected to trying to get the questions on the ballot.

Johnson read from a California Supreme Court opinion that knocked an 
advisory question off the ballot there. In that case, a justice said 
the law in California doesn't allow for the polling of the 
electorate, which is at odds with the purpose of "representative 
democracy," in which elected officials make decisions and are 
accountable to the voters for them.

"It's important," Johnson said, "that the public understands what 
we're really talking about here is the process of government (and) 
the games we can play with the system."

He and other Republicans have accused Democrats of proposing the 
marijuana question in hopes of boosting turnout among younger, 
left-leaning voters.

Commissioner Maggie Hart Stebbins, a Democrat, responded to Johnson's 
reading of the California court decision with a rhetorical question, 
"Do we live in California?" That touched off a tense exchange, as 
Johnson tried to respond and the two commissioners talked over each other.

O'Malley said the New Mexico attorney general has already said it's 
legal to put advisory questions on the ballot.

"We've done our homework," she said.

The tax question asks voters whether they favor imposing a one-eighth 
percent grossreceipts tax for mental-health and behavioral services. 
In Albuquerque, the tax rate would climb from 7 percent to 7.125 
percent if such a tax were enacted.

The pot question would ask voters whether they support actions to 
decriminalize possession of an ounce or less of marijuana. Santa Fe 
County wants to add a similar marijuana question to its ballot.

The results wouldn't be binding. It would be up to commissioners to 
craft legislation later if they want to raise taxes or pass an 
ordinance addressing marijuana.

County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver, meanwhile, told commissioners 
Monday there's enough room on the ballot for the two extra questions. 
Adding them won't increase election costs, she said.
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MAP posted-by: Jay Bergstrom