New Mexico Statutes
Article 19 - Campaign Practices
Section 1-19-35 - Reports and statements; late filing penalty; failure to file.

A. Except for the report required to be filed and delivered the Thursday prior to the election and any supplemental report, as required in Paragraph (5) of Subsection B of Section 1-19-29 NMSA 1978, if a statement of no activity or a report of expenditures and contributions is not filed or is filed after any deadline imposed by the Campaign Reporting Act, the responsible reporting individual or political committee shall be liable for and shall pay to the secretary of state fifty dollars ($50.00) per day for each regular working day after the time required by the Campaign Reporting Act for the filing of statements of no activity or reports of expenditures and contributions until the complete statement or report is filed, up to a maximum fine as provided in Subsection H of this section.
B. If any reporting individual fails to file or files a late report of expenditures and contributions due on the Thursday prior to the election, the reporting individual or political committee shall be liable and pay to the secretary of state five hundred dollars ($500) for the first working day and fifty dollars ($50.00) for each subsequent working day after the time required for the filing of the report until the complete report is filed, up to a maximum fine as provided in Subsection H of this section.
C. If a reporting individual fails to file or files a late supplemental report of expenditures and contributions as required in Paragraph (5) of Subsection B of Section 1-19-29 NMSA 1978, the reporting individual or political committee shall be liable for and pay to the secretary of state a penalty equal to the amount of each contribution received or pledged after the Tuesday before the election that was not timely filed.
D. If the secretary of state determines that a reporting individual or political committee has failed to file or has filed a report past the deadline, the secretary of state shall by written notice set forth the violation and the fine that may be imposed and inform the reporting individual that the individual has ten working days from the date of the letter to come into voluntary compliance and to provide a written explanation, under penalty of perjury, stating any reason why the violation occurred. If a timely explanation is filed and the secretary of state determines that good cause exists to waive or reduce the imposition of the fine, the secretary of state may by a written notice of final action partially or fully waive the imposition of a fine for any late report or statement of no activity. A written notice of final action shall be sent by certified mail. The secretary of state may file a petition with the court to remit outstanding fines for good cause or refer unpaid fines for enforcement under Subsection A of Section 1-19-34.6 NMSA 1978.
E. All sums collected for the penalty shall be deposited in the state general fund. A report or statement of no activity shall be deemed timely filed only if it is received by the secretary of state by the date and time prescribed by law.
F. Any candidate who fails or refuses to file a report of expenditures and contributions or statement of no activity or to pay a penalty imposed by the secretary of state as required by the Campaign Reporting Act shall not, in addition to any other penalties provided by law:
(1) have the candidate's name printed upon the ballot if the violation occurs before and through the final date for the withdrawal of candidates; or
(2) be issued a certificate of nomination or election, if the violation occurs after the final date for withdrawal of candidates or after the election, until the candidate satisfies all reporting requirements of the Campaign Reporting Act and pays all penalties owed.
G. Any candidate who loses an election and who failed or refused to file a report of expenditures and contributions or a statement of no activity or to pay a penalty imposed by the secretary of state as required by the Campaign Reporting Act shall not be, in addition to any other penalties provided by law, permitted to file a declaration of candidacy or nominating petition for any future election until the candidate satisfies all reporting requirements of that act and pays all penalties owed.
H. The maximum cumulative penalties for each report for which fines are assessed in accordance with Subsections A and B of this section are as follows:
(1) five thousand dollars ($5,000) for statewide candidate committees and political committees;
(2) two thousand five hundred dollars ($2,500) for legislative, district judge, district attorney and public education commission candidate committees;
(3) one thousand dollars ($1,000) for county candidate committees running in a county designated as class A; and
(4) five hundred dollars ($500) for all other non-class A county candidate committees.
History: 1978 Comp., § 1-19-35, enacted by Laws 1979, ch. 360, § 11; 1981, ch. 331, § 11; 1993, ch. 46, § 16; 1994, ch. 86, § 3; 1995, ch. 153, § 16; 1997, ch. 12, § 2; 1997, ch. 112, § 5; 2009, ch. 67, § 6; 2019, ch. 262, § 13; 2021, ch. 109, § 6.
Cross references. — For penalty for filing false report, see 1-19-36 NMSA 1978.
For election offenses and penalties in general, see 1-20-1 NMSA 1978 et seq.
The 2021 amendment, effective July 1, 2021, changed the maximum fines for not filing statements of no activity or reports of expenditures and contributions or for filing these reports after the imposed deadline, required the secretary of state to notify reporting individuals or political committees when they are violation of filing provisions and to inform the reporting individual that the individual has ten working days from the date of the letter to come into voluntary compliance and to provide a written explanation stating the reason why the violation occurred, and authorized the secretary of state to waive the imposition of a fine for any late report or statement of no activity upon a showing of good cause; in Subsection A, after "Section 1-19-29 NMSA 1978", deleted "that is due prior to the election, and subject to the provisions of Section 1-19-34.4 NMSA 1978", after "report of expenditures and contributions", deleted "contains false or incomplete information" and added "is not filed", after "political committee", deleted "in addition to any other penalties or remedies prescribed by the Election Code", and after "up to a maximum", deleted "of five thousand dollars ($5,000)" and added "fine as provided in Subsection H of this section"; in Subsection B, after "reporting individual", added "fails to file or", after "files a", deleted "false, intentionally incomplete or", and after "up to a maximum", deleted "of five thousand dollars ($5,000)" and added "fine as provided in Subsection H of this section"; added a new Subsection D and redesignated former Subsections D through F as Subsections E through G, respectively; and added Subsection H.
The 2019 amendment, effective July 1, 2019, made certain technical changes to the section; and in Subsection D, after "statement of", deleted "exception" and added "no activity", and after "received by the", deleted "proper filing officer" and added "secretary of state".
The 2009 amendment, effective June 19, 2009, in Subsection A, changed "Paragraph (2)" to "Paragraph (5)" and after "statement of", changed "exception" to "no activity"; in Subsection C, changed "Paragraph (2)" to "Paragraph (5)"; and in Subsection E, changed "exception" to "no activity".
The 1997 amendment, effective June 20, 1997, in Subsections A and B, substituted "Thursday" for "Friday"; and in Subsection F, substituted "that act" for "the Campaign Reporting Act".
The 1995 amendment, effective June 16, 1995, inserted "and statements" following "reports" in the section heading, rewrote Subsections A and B, added Subsection C, redesignated former Subsections C through E as Subsections D through F and rewrote those Subsections.
The 1994 amendment, effective May 18, 1994, deleted "final" preceding "report" near the beginning of Subsection A.
The 1993 amendment, effective July 1, 1993, rewrote this section to the extent that a detailed comparison is impracticable.