1. A. At any time not less than one hundred twenty days prior to and following a statewide election, the secretary of state may file and present to the district court a verified petition alleging, on information and belief, that certain persons registered, named in the petition, are not qualified electors in the precincts named in the petition. The petition shall contain a brief statement of the facts upon which such allegation is made.
2. B. Upon filing and presentation of the petition, the court shall by order fix a day for hearing thereon, which date shall be not less than fourteen days nor more than twenty-one days after such order. The court shall direct the county clerk to use the address on the certificates of registration to forthwith notify the persons named in the petition whose registration is sought to be canceled of the date and purpose of the hearing and that each person should contact the county clerk no later than the close of business the day before the hearing or be present at the hearing if the person desires to oppose the cancellation.
3. C. If, after hearing, the court finds that the registration of any of the persons named in the petition should be canceled, it shall by order direct the county clerk to cancel the registrations.
4. D. Within thirty days following a hearing held pursuant to this section, the secretary of state shall report the results of the hearing to the United States election assistance commission and to the voting section of the civil rights division of the United States department of justice. The report required by this subsection shall be posted on the secretary of state's website for one year following the hearing.

History: 1953 Comp., § 3-4-20, enacted by Laws 1969, ch. 240, § 78; 1975, ch. 255, § 43; 1995, ch. 124, § 4; 2011, ch. 137, § 34; 2019, ch. 212, § 52.

ANNOTATIONS

Cross references. — For person listed on purge list as ground for challenge, see 1-12-20 NMSA 1978.

The 2019 amendment, effective April 3, 2019, revised the deadline for the secretary of state to petition the district court to cancel certain registrations, and required the secretary of state to report the results of the hearing on the petition; in Subsection A, after "not less than", deleted "ninety" and added "one hundred twenty", after "prior to", added "and following"; and added Subsection D.

The 2011 amendment, effective July 1, 2011, changed the time the secretary of state may file a petition from forty-two days to ninety days before an election; changed the time a court must hear a petition from five days to fourteen days; and eliminated the liability of county chairmen and groups of petitioners to pay the costs of the proceeding.

The 1995 amendment, effective January 1, 1996, substituted "any major political party" for "either of the two major political parties" in Subsection A and made minor stylistic changes in Subsections B and D.

Court without jurisdiction to entertain motion to dismiss purge petition. — District court acted without jurisdiction in entertaining demurrer (now motion to dismiss, see Rules 1-007B and 1-007C NMRA) to petition to purge registration list of county under Laws 1927, ch. 41 (now repealed), it being unknown to the provisions of the act, and it being the duty of the district court to hear the proofs and find the facts upon the allegations of the petition. Hannah v. District Court of Fourth Judicial Dist., 1928-NMSC-053, 33 N.M. 533, 271 P. 469 (decided under former law).

Sufficient notice and hearing provided for purge petition. — Laws 1927, ch. 41 (now repealed), which provided for petition to purge county registration list, sufficiently provided for notice and hearing. Hannah v. District Court of Fourth Judicial Dist., 1928-NMSC-053, 33 N.M. 533, 271 P. 469 (decided under former law).

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 25 Am. Jur. 2d Elections § 184.

29 C.J.S. Elections § 48.