Posted: Wednesday, August 6, 2014 9:00 pm | Updated: 12:05 am, Thu Aug 7, 2014.
Two lawmakers, both Albuquerque Democrats, plan to announce Thursday that they will introduce legislation that would open New Mexico’s primary elections to independent voters.
Currently, only voters registered with the major political parties can participate in the publicly funded elections, excluding the growing number of voters who decline to state a party affiliation when they register.
Meanwhile, Attorney General Gary King said this week that he personally has no problem with opening up the primaries — even though his office has asked to intervene in a pending lawsuit in order to defend the state law that prohibits independents from taking part in primaries, which determine which candidates appear on general election ballots.
Read more here: http://www.santafenewmexican.com/news/local_news/lawmakers-plan-measure-calling-for-open-primaries/article_93b2eedf-8aeb-5bdb-933a-0bfc6436c8ec.html