2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 1 - Elections › Article 19 - Campaign Practices › Section 1-19-26.1 - Political committees; registration; disclosures; penalties.

A. It is unlawful for a political committee to continue to receive or make any contribution or expenditure for a political purpose if the committee fails to meet the requirements of Subsections B and C of this section.
B. A political committee shall appoint and maintain a treasurer, file a statement of organization with the secretary of state and pay a filing fee of fifty dollars ($50.00).
C. A statement of organization required by Subsection B of this section shall be made under oath on a prescribed form showing:
(1) the full name of the committee, which shall fairly and accurately reflect the identity of the committee, including any sponsoring organization, and its address;
(2) a statement of the purpose for which the committee was organized;
(3) the names and addresses of the officers of the committee; and
(4) an identification of any bank account used by the committee to receive or make contributions or make expenditures.
D. Any changes to the information provided in the statement of organization shall be reported to the secretary of state within ten days.
E. If a political committee fails to update the statement of organization within the time prescribed in Subsection D of this section, the political committee is subject to a fine of five hundred dollars ($500).
F. A state political party shall furnish to the secretary of state a list of each county political party associated with it and the names and contact information of the county party officers as submitted to the state political party. The list shall be updated quarterly if there have been any reported changes.
G. The provisions of this section do not apply to a political committee that is located in another state and is registered with the federal election commission if the political committee reports on federal reporting forms filed with the federal election commission all expenditures for and contributions made to reporting individuals in New Mexico and files with the secretary of state, according to the schedule required for the filing of forms with the federal election commission, a copy of either the full report or the cover sheet and the portions of the federal reporting forms that contain the information on expenditures for and contributions made to reporting individuals in New Mexico.
History:
1978 Comp., § 1-19-26.1, enacted by Laws 1993, ch. 46, § 2; 1995, ch. 153, § 2; 2002, ch. 89, § 2; 2019, ch. 262, § 5; 2021, ch. 109, § 1.
ANNOTATIONS
The 2021 amendment,
effective July 1, 2021, provided a penalty for political committees that fail to update their statement of organization within the time prescribed, required state political parties to furnish to the secretary of state a list of each county political party associated with it, including contact information of the county party officers, and to update the list quarterly if there have been any reported changes; in the section heading, after "disclosures", added "penalties"; and added new Subsections E and F and redesignated former Subsection E as Subsection G.
The 2019 amendment,
effective July 1, 2019, removed the five hundred dollar ($500) threshold on amounts a political committee received, contributed or expended before it was required to meet the registration and other requirements of the provision, and required that any political committee must meet the specified requirements before it may receive or make any contributions or make expenditures for a political purpose; in Subsection A, after "political committee", deleted "that receives, contributes or expends in excess of five hundred dollars ($500) in any calendar year", after "political purpose", deleted "unless that political committee appoints and maintains a treasurer and registers with the secretary of state" and added "if the committee fails to meet the requirements of Subsections B and C of this section"; in Subsection B, after "shall", deleted "register" and added "appoint and maintain a treasurer, file a statement of organization", after "secretary of state", deleted "within ten days of receiving, contributing or expending in excess of five hundred dollars ($500) by paying" and added "and pay"; added new subsection designation "C"; in Subsection C, in the introductory clause, after "organization", added "required by Subsection B of this section shall be made", deleted former Paragraph (3) and redesignated Paragraphs (4) and (5) as Paragraphs C(3) and C(4); added Subsection D and redesignated former Subsection C as Subsection E.
The 2002 amendment,
effective May 15, 2002, substituted "five hundred dollars ($500)" for "two thousand dollars ($2,000)" in Subsections A and B.
The 1995 amendment,
effective June 16, 1995, added Subsection C; substituted "two thousand dollars ($2,000)" for "five hundred dollars ($500)" in Subsections A and B; and in Subsection B, deleted "no later than ten days after the effective date of this section or" following "secretary of state" in the first sentence, inserted "identity of the committee, including any" in Paragraph (2), made a minor stylistic change in Paragraph (4), and deleted "account" following "bank" in Paragraph (5).
A state employee who also receives a monthly salary from a political campaign committee does not necessarily violate state ethics laws.
— Although the Gift Act, 10-16B-1 to 10-16B-4 NMSA 1978, the Governmental Conduct Act, 10-16-1 to 10-16-18 NMSA 1978, the Financial Disclosure Act, 10-16A-1 to 10-16A-8 NMSA 1978, the Campaign Reporting Act, 1-19-25 to 1-19-36 NMSA 1978, and the State Ethics Commission Act, Chapter 10, Article 16G NMSA 1978, impose certain duties on state employees and regulate certain state employees' conduct, the limited set of facts presented in this request, that a state employee, while employed and performing regular public duties, is also receiving a monthly salary from a political campaign committee or political organization, do not establish a violation of any of the foregoing statutes. 2020 Op. Ethics Comm'n No. 2020-01.