County clerk: Election reform law to extend elected official terms in Lincoln, Eddy counties

A bill signed by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham will extend the terms of several elected officials in Lincoln County from four to six years to bring them into alignment with presidential and gubernatorial elections.

House Bill 407 — "Election Laws 50-Year Tune-Up" — was signed by the governor April 3.

"Lincoln County and Eddy County ran off cycle as far as county clerks and this will align everybody," Lincoln County Clerk Whitney Whittaker said Thursday.

"As it stand now, it looks like the bill extended some terms. When they did this alignment, Lincoln County got affected greatly in that it shifts quite a few of the county offices. The county clerk and county treasurer will serve six years, depending if this doesn't hit litigation."

Whitaker said she referred the matter to the county attorney for an opinion.

Whittaker said the county commission was increased in the early 1990s from three to five members, the dates of terms changed and the county's elections were offset from New Mexico's other 32 counties. 

More:Lincoln County officials took their oaths of office Jan. 2

"Just for this one time, myself and Eddy County Sheriff Mark Cage will end up serving six years, because we're on the same rotation. I think it also will affect the district attorney," Lincoln County Sheriff Robert Shepperd said Thursday.

Shepperd is serving his second term which ends in 2021 and would not be up for re-election.

"... since it changed, I will do what I have to do in the best interests of the department and the county," Shepperd said.

Eddy County Clerk Robin Van Natta could not be reached for comment Thursday.

The new election alignment

The 480-plus page "Election Laws 50-Year Tune-Up" states that in the year of a presidential election, the primary and general election ballots will contain in order president/vice president; U.S. senator; U.S. representative; state senator; state representative; supreme court; court of appeals; public regulation commission odd-numbered districts; public education odd-number districts; district court; metropolitan court; county clerk; county treasurer and county commission odd-numbered districts.

Whittaker and County Treasurer Beverly Calaway were elected in 2018 for four-year terms.

Rather than complete their terms 2021, they would wait until the next presidential election in 2024.

The bill continues that in the year of the gubernatorial election, the next being 2022, the line-up will be U.S. senator; U.S. representative; governor/lieutenant governor; secretary of state; attorney general; state auditor; state treasurer; commissioner of public lands; state representative; supreme court; court of appeals; public regulation commission even-numbered districts; public education commission even-numbered district; district court; district attorney; magistrate court; county sheriff; county assessor; even-numbered county commission districts; and probate judge.

"I read the bill, it was an election clean-up bill," Whittaker said. "In statute, it says certain offices run at a certain time, so I didn't really delve into it until (state officials) said my term was going to change.

"Once I was aware, I made the attorney and everybody aware, because it will impact nearly every elected official in Lincoln County."

A temporary provision at the end of the bill describes how it will be enacted, she said.

Whitaker said while the county attorney has not yet issued an opinion, it appears commission districts 1 and 3 — occupied by Preston Stone and Dallas Draper, respectively — will be on the 2020 ballot as they normally would and in line with the new rules.

"The probate judge and sheriff and assessor all ran at different times from other counties in New Mexico, so I forsee those three will run in the 2022 election, because they now are aligned with the gubernatorial election," Whittaker said.

This story will be updated as more information becomes available.