Senator Crystal Diamond Stands with County Clerks in Opposition to Amended Senate Bill 144

Category: NM Legislative Session 2022 NM Legislative Session 2022
Published: 16 February 2022 16 February 2022

Renews Call for passage of bipartisan Senate Bill 6

SANTA FE – Following reports that the New Mexico County Clerk's Affiliate voted overwhelmingly to oppose Senate Bill 144, as amended, Senator Crystal Diamond (District 35-Doña Ana, Hidalgo, Luna, and Sierra), released a statement of support for the clerks and renewed her call for the House to pass Senate Bill 6.

"I stand with our county clerks in strong opposition to the amended SB 144," said Senator Diamond. "The attempt by House Democrats to logroll a 165-page election amendment into a simple 2-page bill is outrageous. Even more problematic is that the sponsors of the amendment clearly did not consult with those responsible for running our elections—our county clerks."

During the public hearing on SB 144, Democratic legislators, Representative Damon Ely and Senator Katy Duhigg, shocked the clerks and other concerned citizens when they introduced the unexpected amendment. The clerks and members of the public were not given ample time to review the amendment before it was adopted on a party-line vote, with all Republicans opposing the measure.

"Almost two weeks ago, the Senate sent a bipartisan election bill to the House," added Senator Diamond. "SB 6 was endorsed by the county clerks and the Secretary of State, and passed the Senate on a 39-0 vote. Unfortunately, instead of passing the consensus legislation, the Democrats took some of the worst provisions of the Governor's radical election bill (SB 8) and shoved them into an unrelated measure. This is a slap in the face to the county clerks and everyone else who worked tirelessly on SB 6. I urge my colleagues in both chambers to reject the amendment on SB 144 and to pass SB 6 in its current form."

Content on the Beat

WARNING: All articles and photos with a byline or photo credit are copyrighted to the author or photographer. You may not use any information found within the articles without asking permission AND giving attribution to the source. Photos can be requested and may incur a nominal fee for use personally or commercially.

Disclaimer: If you find errors in articles not written by the Beat team but sent to us from other content providers, please contact the writer, not the Beat. For example, obituaries are always provided by the funeral home or a family member. We can fix errors, but please give details on where the error is so we can find it. News releases from government and non-profit entities are posted generally without change, except for legal notices, which incur a small charge.

NOTE: If an article does not have a byline, it was written by someone not affiliated with the Beat and then sent to the Beat for posting.

Images: We have received complaints about large images blocking parts of other articles. If you encounter this problem, click on the title of the article you want to read and it will take you to that article's page, which shows only that article without any intruders. 

New Columnists: The Beat continues to bring you new columnists. And check out the old faithfuls who continue to provide content.

Newsletter: If you opt in to the Join GCB Three Times Weekly Updates option above this to the right, you will be subscribed to email notifications with links to recently posted articles.

Submitting to the Beat

Those new to providing news releases to the Beat are asked to please check out submission guidelines at https://www.grantcountybeat.com/about/submissions. They are for your information to make life easier on the readers, as well as for the editor.

Advertising: Don't forget to tell advertisers that you saw their ads on the Beat.

Classifieds: We have changed Classifieds to a simpler option. Check periodically to see if any new ones have popped up. Send your information to editor@grantcountybeat.com and we will post it as soon as we can. Instructions and prices are on the page.

Editor's Notes

It has come to this editor's attention that people are sending information to the Grant County Beat Facebook page. Please be aware that the editor does not regularly monitor the page. If you have items you want to send to the editor, please send them to editor@grantcountybeat.com. Thanks!

Here for YOU: Consider the Beat your DAILY newspaper for up-to-date information about Grant County. It's at your fingertips! One Click to Local News. Thanks for your support for and your readership of Grant County's online news source—www.grantcountybeat.com

Feel free to notify editor@grantcountybeat.com if you notice any technical problems on the site. Your convenience is my desire for the Beat.  The Beat totally appreciates its readers and subscribers!  

Compliance: Because you are an esteemed member of The Grant County Beat readership, be assured that we at the Beat continue to do everything we can to be in full compliance with GDPR and pertinent US law, so that the information you have chosen to give to us cannot be compromised.