New Mexico’s Presidential Elector’s and the Electoral College
On Election Day when you go to cast your vote for president you are actually casting your vote for that candidate’s elector.
The Electoral College was created by the framers of the U.S. Constitution as a compromise for the presidential election process. This compromise quelled two concerns (1) politicians beliefs at the time that a purely popular vote was too reckless and (2) allowing Congress to select a president was too powerful. The Electoral College allowed voters to vote for electors who would then cast their votes for candidates, a system described in Article II, section 1 of the Constitution.
Candidates for elector are nominated by their state political parties in the months prior to Election Day. The Constitution delegates to each state the authority for nominating and choosing its electors.
New Mexico Presidential Electoral - How it works
New Mexico has 5 electoral votes as each state has the number of electors equal to the number of their U.S. Senators (2 in each state) plus the number of U.S. Representatives (3 in N.M.).
• Senator Pete Domenici
• Senator Jeff Bingaman
• U.S. Representative Heather Wilson (1st District)
• U.S. Representative Tom Udall (3rd District)
• U.S. Representative Steve Pearce (2nd District)
The two most common ways a person becomes an elector are by being elected by his or her party committee or an “elector” campaigns for a spot and the decision is made during a vote held at the state’s party convention. New Mexico’s electors are nominated from a state party convention and the names of the electors do not appear on the election ballot.
“Any qualified political party in New Mexico desiring to have candidates for president and vice president on the general election ballot in a presidential election year shall, at a state party convention held in the year of such election, choose from the voters of such party the number of presidential electors required by law and no more” Election Handbook of the State of New Mexico, 2007 Edition 1-15-3. Presidential electors; nomination.
Once these nominees have been determined, on election night by popular vote, the nominees then become presidential electors. Under New Mexico State Election code, the presidential electors will then meet in the Secretary of States office at 11:00 a.m. on the Monday following second Wednesday in December (December 15, 2008) to cast their ballots for president and vice president of the United States.
“The presidential elector nominees of the party whose nominees for president and vice president receive the highest number of votes at the general election shall be the elected presidential electors for this state, and each shall be granted a certificate of election by the state canvassing board.” Election Handbook of the State of New Mexico, 2007 Edition, 1-15-4. Presidential electors; election. (C)
Winner Takes All
On Election night however, in 48 states and New Mexico being one of them, the Constitution allows a winner-take-all rule; whichever candidate receives a majority of the vote, or a plurality of the popular vote (less than 50 percent but more than any other candidate) takes all of the State's electoral votes.
New Mexico 2008 Presidential Elector Nominees:
Democrats
• Brian Colon
• Annadelle Sanchez
• Tom Buckner
• Christy French
• Alvin Warren
Republicans
• Susana Martinez
• Manuel Lujan, Jr.
• Marylou Melving
• Samuel S. Winder
• Valin R. Woodward
Independent Party
• Bruce G. Trigg
• Sam M. Hitt
• Judy Gonzales
• Marc A. Black
• Robert J. Baroody
Constitution
• Jim Skinner
• Karen Skinner
• Charleen Bishop
• Nicolas Lomas
• Arthur Clark
The presidential electoral are also paid a per diem for each day’s attendance paid through the secretary of finance and administration.
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