Ethics, Elections, and Politics

Ethics, Elections, and Politics

Government derives its legitimacy from the consent of the governed. The people, through their government, must guarantee that all have an equal voice and equal representation. People have a fundamental right to participate in the political process through voting, running for office, and otherwise engaging as appropriate for a person’s age. We do not tolerate voter suppression. We actively work to prevent and remove obstructions to voting in all elections. We demand a well-regulated and equitable campaign-finance system.

We Affirm:

1. Americans’ right to vote is sacred and fundamental; and
2. Every New Mexican has a right to participate fully in our political processes through voting, serving, leading, and
participating within the Party, and running for public office; and
3. Money is not speech and corporations are not people; and
4. The National Popular Vote Interstate Compact should be adopted to achieve equal representation.

We Will:

1. Fight to overturn all Supreme Court rulings on campaign finance, such as Citizens United and Buckley vs. Valeo,
that have given the wealthy and corporations disproportionate influence over our elections; and
2. Fight for campaign-finance reform and repeal laws that enable secret money in politics; and
3. Create competitive public campaign financing to stop the influence of big donors and special interest groups; and
4. Require full and real-time disclosure of all direct contributions to political and issue campaigns; and
5. Require full financial disclosure by all elected officials and paid lobbyists/consultants; and
6. Fight for campaign reform by frequent and timely candidate and community training on all aspects of the issues in
order to change the laws and level the playing field; and
7. Promote equity in representation and the ability of every citizen to run for the New Mexico State Legislature by
supporting a constitutional amendment to provide for a full-time and adequately staffed, paid legislature; and
8. Fight against voter suppression, such as partisan voter purges, voter ID laws, and limited polling sites; and
9. Purposefully encourage political participation by all New Mexicans of any race, ethnicity, gender identity, sexual
orientation, religion, national origin, physical ability, cognitive ability, age, or socioeconomic status; and
10. Increase voter participation by expanding voting hours, the early-voting period, and voting convenience center
locations; and
11. Promote early voting, same-day registration, and automatic registration; and
12. Provide ample and convenient polling sites in all communities, particularly tribal communities; and
13. Demand up-to-date election processes nationwide that guarantee transparency, integrity, and accountability in the
voter software and equipment, and include archived paper ballots; and
14. Support the elimination of all superdelegates; and
15. Support a constitutional amendment to abolish the Electoral College, in favor of a popular vote; and
16. Advocate for a constitutional amendment to end gerrymandering by creating and giving authority to an
independent, non-partisan redistricting commission that includes diverse membership, specifically including
Indigenous representation and participation. This commission shall be separate from the legislative process to
prevent the drawing of political boundaries favoring one party over another or favoring incumbents; and
17. Restore the Voting Rights Act of 1965; and
18. Support the ability to use straight-ticket, party-preference voting; and
19. Adopt ranked-choice voting for DPNM party elections to ensure that candidates are elected by a majority of the
State Central Committee (SCC) members voting for that position; and
20. Advocate for ranked-choice voting for all primary and general elections to make democracy more fair and
functional; and
21. Develop a strategic plan to maximize engagement with our activists and partners to build coalitions to help our
candidates win.

Help Protect Our Democracy

Join today to make sure that New Mexico continues to elect Democrats who will protect our democracy and uphold our ideals