2021 New Mexico Statutes
Article 3 - Precincts and Polling Places
Section 1-3-13 - Adjusting precinct boundaries; time lines for legislative and local public body redistricting; release of nominating petitions.

A. Prior to commencement of the federal decennial census, the secretary of state shall review all county precinct maps submitted pursuant to Section 1-3-12 NMSA 1978 for compliance with the provisions of the Precinct Boundary Adjustment Act and Section 1-3-1 NMSA 1978. Those county precinct maps determined not to be in compliance with the precinct boundary criteria set forth in Subsection A of Section 1-13-12 NMSA 1978 or Section 1-3-1 NMSA 1978 shall be rejected and returned to the appropriate county clerk with a written statement setting forth those instances in which the map does not comply. The county clerk and the board of county commissioners shall make the required adjustments within thirty days after receiving notice of noncompliance.
B. Following receipt of the results of a federal decennial census, the secretary of state shall again follow the procedures outlined in Subsection A of this section to allow the counties to make any necessary adjustments. For any county that does not make the required adjustments within thirty days after receiving notice of noncompliance following receipt of the results of a federal decennial census, the secretary of state shall send a second notice of noncompliance, and no later than ninety days following receipt of the results of the federal decennial census, if any precinct boundary adjustments are necessary to meet the legal requirements of redistricting, pursuant to Sections 1-3-1 and 1-3-12 NMSA 1978, the secretary of state shall adjust the boundaries of the precincts only to the extent necessary to achieve compliance with the requirements of those sections and notify the county of those boundary adjustments.
C. The precincts shown upon the standard base maps submitted pursuant to the provisions of this section and as revised and approved by the secretary of state pursuant to the Precinct Boundary Adjustment Act shall become the official precincts of each county for redistricting.
D. Following completion of the procedures outlined in Subsection B of this section and in the same calendar year in which the state receives the results of a federal decennial census:
(1) the legislature shall redistrict federal congressional districts, each house of the legislature and any other state districts requiring redistricting; and
(2) each local public body subject to districting and whose governing body members are not elected at the regular local election shall create or redraw districts for the local public body.
E. In the calendar year following the receipt of the results of a federal decennial census, each local public body subject to districting and whose governing body members are elected at the regular local election shall create or redraw districts for the local public body.
F. A local public body shall establish districts in which the number of persons in each district, as shown in the most recent federal decennial census, is as nearly equal in population as practical, but within five percent of the mean. A local public body subject to districting shall not split a precinct into two or more districts for any elected office unless necessary to comply with federal law or to preserve communities of interest. Each local public body subject to districting shall create or redraw districts pursuant to the time lines of this section.
G. During years in which districts are redrawn pursuant to the provisions of this section, nominating petitions shall not be made available for relevant offices until completion of the procedures specified in Subsection D or E of this section, as applicable.
H. As used in this section:
(1) "local public body subject to districting" means any political subdivision of the state with elected governing body members who:
(a) must reside in designated areas of the political subdivision to qualify for election; or
(b) are elected by a geographically defined subset of voters within the boundaries of the political subdivision; and
(2) "mean" means the total number of persons residing within a political subdivision of the state divided by the number of districts from which governing body members are elected.
History: Laws 1983, ch. 223, § 4; 1984 (1st S.S.), ch. 3, § 5; 1991, ch. 40, § 1; 1991, ch. 237, § 1; 1991 (1st S.S.), ch. 6, § 8; 1997, ch. 85, § 2; 2009, ch. 222, § 3; 2019, ch. 212, § 42; 2021, ch. 79, § 12.
The 2021 amendment, effective July 1, 2021, provided new redistricting provisions, set time lines for legislative and local public body redistricting, provided that during years in which districts are redrawn, nominating petitions shall not be made available for relevant offices until completion of the procedures set forth in this section, and defined "local public body subject to redistricting" and "mean", as used in this section; in the section heading, deleted "Secretary of state powers and duties" and added "Adjusting precinct boundaries; time lines for legislative and local public body redistricting; release of nominating petitions"; in Subsection B, after "no later than", deleted "June 30 of the same year" and added "ninety days following receipt of the results of the federal decennial census"; and added Subsections C through H.
The 2019 amendment, effective April 3, 2019, provided additional duties for the secretary of state prior to and following receipt of the federal decennial census; in Subsection A, after the subsection designation, added "Prior to commencement of the federal decennial census", after "Precinct Boundary Adjustment Act", added "and Section 1-3-1 NMSA 1978", after "Section 1-3-12 NMSA 1978", added "or Section 1-3-1 NMSA 1978", and after "required adjustments", deleted "and resubmit one copy of the corrected county precinct map"; and in Subsection B, after the subsection designation, deleted "Prior to January 1, 2020" and added "Following receipt of the results of a federal decennial census, the secretary of state shall again follow the procedures outlined in Subsection A of this section to allow the counties to make any necessary adjustments. For any county that does not make the required adjustments within thirty days after receiving notice of noncompliance following receipt of the results of a federal decennial census, the secretary of state shall send a second notice of noncompliance and no later than June 30 of the same year", after "meet the legal", deleted "and constitutional", after "redistricting", added "pursuant to Sections 1-3-1 and 1-3-12 NMSA 1978", after "secretary of state shall", added "adjust the boundaries of the precincts only to the extent necessary to achieve compliance with the requirements of those sections and", and after "adjustments", deleted the remainder of the subsection, which related to approval of precincts for prior elections years.
The 2009 amendment, effective April 7, 2009, in Subsection B, in the first sentence, changed "January 1, 2002" to "January 1, 2012", and after "constitutional requirements of", deleted "legislative reapportionment" and added "redistricting"; and in the last sentence, changed "2002" to "2012".
The 1997 amendment, effective on June 20, 1997, in the second sentence of Subsection A, inserted "with the precinct boundary criteria set forth in Subsection A of Section 1-13-12 NMSA 1978", deleted "of noncompliance" following "statement", and substituted "does not comply" for "is in default"; and, in Subsection B, substituted "2002" for "1992" in two places.
The 1991 (1st S.S.) amendment, effective October 4, 1991, substituted "one copy" for "four copies" in the last sentence in Subsection A; deleted former Subsection B, relating to duty of secretary of state to send county's new precinct map to bureau of census"; and redesignated former Subsection C as Subsection B.
The 1991 amendment, effective April 4, 1991, substituted "Section 1-3-12 NMSA 1978" for "Section 3 of the Precinct Boundary Adjustment Act" and "the Precinct Boundary Adjustment Act" for "that Act" in the first sentence in Subsection A and added Subsection C.