Opinion ID: 6472358
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Analysis of the State Canvassing Board’s Authority Under the 2001 Version of Section 1-14-15(B)

Text: {51} Section 1-14^15 (2001) states: A. An applicant for a recount shall deposit with the proper canvassing board or, in the case of an office for which the state canvassing board issues a certificate of nomination or election, with the secretary of state fifty dollars ($50.00) in cash, or a sufficient surety bond in an amount equal to fifty dollars ($50.00), for each precinct for which a recount is demanded. An applicant for a recheek shall deposit with the proper canvassing board or, in the case of an office for which the state canvassing board issues a certificate of nomination or election, with the secretary of state ten dollars ($10.00) in cash, or a sufficient surety bond in an amount equal to ten dollars ($10.00), for each voting machine to be recheeked. B. The deposit or surety bond shall be security for the payment of the costs and expenses of the recount or recheck in case the results of the recount or recheck are not sufficient to change the results of the election. C. If it appears that error or fraud sufficient to change the winner of the election has been committed, the costs and expenses of the recount or recheck shall be paid by the state upon warrant issued by the secretary of finance and administration supported by a voucher of the secretary of state, or shall be paid by the county upon warrant of the county clerk from the general fund of the county, as the case may be. D. If no error or fraud appears to be sufficient to change the winner, the costs and expenses for the recount or recheck shall be paid by the applicant. Costs shall consist of any docket fees, mileage of the sheriff in serving summons and fees and mileage of precinct board members, at the same rates allowed witnesses in civil actions. If error or fraud has been committed by a precinct board, the board members shall not be entitled to such mileage or fees. (Emphasis added.). {52} The State Canvassing Board asks this Court to give it deference in its interpretation of Section 1-14-15(B) to require advance payment of the entire estimated cost of the recount and recheck, not just the costs mentioned in Section 1-14~15(A), as reasonable because otherwise the State of New Mexico would need to incur a $1.4 million expense when neither Petitioner is likely to succeed as a result of the recount and recheek. The State Canvassing Board also argues that the $108,670 required for a statewide recount and recheck under Section 1-14AL5(A) only entitles Petitioners to have their petition considered, not to have the summonses issued. Petitioners respond that the plain language of the statute, which defines “deposit” and “surety bond” in Section 1-14-15(A), is all that is required as “security” for purposes of Section 1-14-15(B). Additionally, Petitioners note that Section 1-14^15(C) only requires a change in the winner to result from the recount and recheck, not that either Petitioner be found the winner, for the state to incur the costs of the recount. Only if error or fraud does not result in a change of the winner after the recount, i.e., President Bush is still found the winner, would Petitioners be responsible for the cost of the recount and recheck. Section 1-14-15(D). Lastly, Petitioners state the plain language of Section 1-14^16(A) mandates that the State Canvassing Board issue the summonses to the respective precinct boards “immediately after the filing of the application.” {53} Section 1-14-15(A) defines “deposit” and “surety bond.” We conclude that the definition in Section 1-14-15(A) applies to the term “deposit or surety bond [that] shall be security” in Section 1-14-15(B). The plain language of the statute is the clearest indication of the Legislature’s intent. Pub. Serv. Co. of N.M. v. N.M. Pub. Util. Comm’n, 1999-NMSC-040, ¶ 18, 128 N.M. 309, 992 P.2d 860. The plain language of Section 1-14-15(D) clearly states the applicant is only responsible for the costs of the recount or reeheck if the error or fraud is not sufficient to change the winner. If a change in the winner does result, the State is liable for the costs. Section 1-14-15(C). Also, contrary to the State Canvassing Board’s claim that Section 1-14-15(A) only entitles Petitioners to a review of their application, the plain language of Section 1-16-16(A) compels mandatory action by the State Canvassing Board to issue summonses to the precinct boards named in Petitioners’ application. See NMSA 1978, § 1-1-3 (1969) (defining “shall” in the Election Code as mandatory). {54} While the State Canvassing Board argues that the Legislature made its intent to provide the State Canvassing Board with discretionary authority explicit through the 2005 amendment, we disagree on the same grounds as stated in finding the amendment unconstitutional. The State Canvassing Board argues we should give deference to its interpretation as an administrative agency, but because this is exclusively a case of interpretation of the statute, we need not defer to the State Canvassing Board’s interpretation. See Regents of Univ. of N.M., 1998-NMSC-020, ¶ 17, 125 N.M. 401, 962 P.2d 1236. We decline to depart from the plain language of the Section 1-14-15 because there is no ambiguity within this statute. Petitioners have deposited the amount required under Section 1-14H5(A). This is the “security” the Legislature has mandated before a recount or recheck can begin. When reading Section 1-14-15 as a whole, the Legislature has intended for the State Canvassing Board to perform the recount or recheck when paid a deposit or surety bond as defined in Section 1-14-15(A). See also § 1-14-16(A) (ordering the State Canvassing Board to act “[i]mmediately after filing of the application for recount or reeheck”). {55} Finally, the State Canvassing Board is concerned that holding for Petitioners in this case will overrule Montoya v. McManus, 68 N.M. 381, 362 P.2d 771 (1961), and Reese v. Dempsey, 48 N.M. 417, 152 P.2d 157 (1944). We disagree. {56} In Montoya, a petitioner in an election contest filed a poverty affidavit instead of a $25,000 bond to cover the costs associated with the procedure as ordered by the district court. 68 N.M. at 383, 362 P.2d at 772. However, this Court, relying on the plain reading of the election contest statute, noted that the statute ordered the district court to require the petitioner to pay a deposit to cover the costs of the procedure, leaving no mention of the applicability of the poverty statute. Id. at 386-87, 362 P.2d at 774-75. Additionally, the Montoya court resolved an ambiguity with the term “bond,” where petitioner claimed “bond” was merely a written promise to pay, id. at 388, 362 P.2d at 776, by stating “the ‘bond’ for the payment of costs required by § 3-9-10 ... must be such a bond as affords security for the payment of costs,” id. at 391, 362 P.2d at 777. The State Canvassing Board avers that Petitioners’ payment of only the costs under Section 1-14-15(A), and not the entire cost of the recount, amounts to a mere promise to pay. The State Canvassing Board also urges this Court to adopt the Montoya court’s analysis of Section 3-9-10 as requiring security for the entire cost of the recount and recheck. {57} The case before us differs from Montoya because the amount required to provide “security” for the recount and recheck are explicitly defined in Section 1-14-15(A) and (B). The “deposit” and “surety bond” that provide security under Section 1-14-15(B) do not include the costs stated in Section 1-14-15(D). Petitioners are not just promising to pay, but have paid $114,400, which is more than what the Legislature has explicitly required them to pay. Finally, relying on the plain language of Section 1-14-15(B), as the Montoya court relied on the language of Section 3-9-10, we note the State Canvassing Board did not have the authority to require anything above the amount the Legislature statutorily required. Therefore Montoya is not overruled here. {58} In Reese, a candidate in a primary election sought a writ of mandamus requiring the State Canvassing Board to perform duties in the canvassing of a primary election. 48 N.M. at 420, 152 P.2d at 158. The Legislature explicitly authorized the State Canvassing Board to perform these duties in the canvassing of a general election. Id. The Court, noting a legislative intent that the statute apply to primary elections, granted the writ ordering the State Canvassing Board to perform such duties in the primary election. Id. at 427, 152 P.2d at 163. The Court added that it would be proper for the State Canvassing Board to issue a writ of mandamus itself, ordering county clerks to provide the information the State Canvassing Board required to conduct the canvass, id. at 430, 152 P.2d at 165, although such authority was not explicit in the statute. Cf. id. at 431-32, 152 P.2d at 165-66. The Court refused to narrow the powers and duties of the State Canvassing Board to not include this authority, finding the Legislature had manifested such purpose and policy. Id. The State Canvassing Board urges us to view Reese as a recognition of judicial deference to its administrative decisions. {59} In the pending case, reiterating our arguments about the propriety of judicial deference to administrative agencies in statutory construction cases, we disagree that Reese mandates judicial deference to determinations of the State Canvassing Board as an administrative agency. A legislative directive granting authority to the State Canvassing Board to complete the canvass does not give them the authority to condition a recount and recheck on the advance payment of the procedures’ full estimated cost. This Court reiterates that the plain language of Section 1-14-15, read as a whole, only requires the deposit of the costs stated in Section 1-14-15(A), and Section 1-14-16 orders the State Canvassing Board to begin the recount and reeheck procedures upon such payment. Our holding does not affect Reese because, unlike Reese, there exists no legislative policy or purpose granting the State Canvassing Board such authority, and the Legislature’s intent is clear in Section 1-14-15.