Commentary: ALBUQUERQUE, NM — Late Thursday, advocates for the passage of an earned sick leave law in the City of Albuquerque filed an emergency motion in Second Judicial District Court to prevent the City Clerk from using an illegal ballot for the October 3 election.
The Albuquerque City Council decided in a July 10 meeting to print the full text of the Healthy Workforce Ordinance (HWO) on the official ballot without a summary, and the City Clerk intends to print it in 7-point font. Healthy Workforce ABQ, OLÉ, and Albuquerque residents ask the court to ensure Albuquerque voters have a fair election by ordering the use of a ballot that they can read and understand.
“The voters’ have a right to enact direct legislation,” said Elizabeth Wagoner, an attorney on the case from the New Mexico Center on Law and Poverty. “The city government insists on a ballot that is misleading and confusing. We are asking the court to protect the integrity of the 2017 election.”
The emergency motion argues that because the full text of the Healthy Workforce Ordinance will only fit on the ballot in an illegible and illegally-small font size — approximately 7-point font — the City Clerk should place a legible summary on the ballot and provide a legible, large-text copy of the full ordinance in each voting booth so that voters can read both documents. The city uses the same practice for bond questions.
According to federal voting systems guidelines adopted in Section 1-9-14 of the New Mexico Election Code, election ballots must be printed at a minimum of 8.5-point font or larger to ensure that voters with poor vision can read their ballots.
In their July meeting, the City Council also voted to include an advisory question on the ballot that uses partisan language to advocate against the HWO. The emergency motion argues that this is illegal because the City Charter and the New Mexico Constitution do not permit the Council to use a deceptive workaround to defeat a ballot initiative they do not like. The advocates are also asking the court to order that ballot question to be removed.
The emergency motion can be found here.