Last month, thousands of people with felony convictions regained the right to vote in New Mexico, the latest in a growing number of states seeking to reintegrate residents into society by allowing them to participate in elections upon leaving prison.
New Mexico Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham signed a wide-reaching voting rights package into law late last month. The measure also includes broader mail-in ballot access for Native Americans, expands same-day voter registration and adds new voting rights for people with felony convictions.
New Mexico’s new law ends the practice of canceling a person’s voter registration upon their felony conviction, scraps a requirement that people finish probation or parole before being allowed to vote and gives exiting inmates the opportunity to register to vote upon leaving prison.
