[LWVNM Action] Journal on the voting rights bill

[Richard Mason]

I want so much to editorialize on this, but the article says it all.  Dick
Mason


*Copyright © 2022 Albuquerque Journal*

SANTA FE – A grueling push to enact voting legislation backed by Democratic
leaders at the Capitol died in the final minutes of a contentious 30-day
session Thursday as a Senate Republican launched a filibuster to run out
the clock.

The standoff came after lawmakers worked through the night, agreeing in the
final hours to send a hefty tax cut package and a broad crime bill to Gov.
Michelle Lujan Grisham

But much of the last-minute drama centered on voting legislation that would
have required ballot drop boxes and established a permanent absentee voter
list, among other changes to the election code.

The proposal, Senate Bill 144, passed the House on a 39-30 vote just before
10 a.m. after three hours of debate, sending it to the Senate with two
hours left in the session.

But Sen. William Sharer, R-Farmington, effectively killed the measure with
a filibuster on the Senate floor.

He talked about San Juan River fly-fishing, baseball rules, Navajo Code
Talkers, and the celestial alignment of the sun and moon during a lengthy
soliloquy on the Senate floor, which began about 9:35 a.m. and lasted
through adjournment.

The speech outraged supporters of the election legislation, who said it
deserved a vote by both chambers.

Senators milled around and chatted during Sharer’s filibuster, with some
taking photos.

Under Senate rules, debate can be halted after two hours. But Sharer’s
filibuster was technically not during debate of a bill.

Instead, it came during announcements to the chamber, allowing him to keep
the floor without time limit. And no Senate Democrats attempted to
interrupt Sharer.

House Speaker Brian Egolf, D-Santa Fe, said afterward that Sharer had made
a mockery of the legislative process.

“It’s a joke,” Egolf said. “It’s sad, and he should be ashamed.”

Opponents of the election bill, by contrast, hailed Sharer and other
Republicans for their work to block the legislation.

“Although Republicans are currently a near super-minority in both
chambers,” Senate Minority Leader Greg Baca, R-Belen, said in a written
statement, “it seems clear that the mandate of the people has been heard
loud and clear in this building. We hear you and we will not cease our
fight to bring your values to the Roundhouse.”
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