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In New Mexico, only those registered with a major political party can vote in its primary elections. A bill moving through the state Legislature would change that for voters who aren鈥檛 affiliated with a party, or who 鈥渄ecline to state.鈥�

A push to take the job of drawing voting districts away from state lawmakers and give it to an independent commission has failed to pass in every legislative session since New Mexico redrew its maps in 2021. A joint resolution introduced Monday again seeks the change for state offices, but would leave the power to redraw the U.S. House map in the hands of legislators.

New Mexico is in the middle of its 30-day session 鈥� one of the shortest in the entire nation. It also has the only unpaid lawmakers. Advocates say legislators should be compensated and sessions should be longer so there is enough time to pass bills.

House Joint Resolution 1 would ask voters whether to amend the state鈥檚 constitution, taking the redistricting process away from lawmakers and giving it to an independent commission instead. It was nearly unanimously tabled in the House Judiciary Committee Monday, with lawmakers from both parties voting to set the measure aside, with only Democratic Rep. Andrea Romero voting against doing so.

A resolution that would ask voters whether to change New Mexico鈥檚 constitution so that state lawmakers no longer draw their own voting districts is moving forward in the legislature with bipartisan support. But the proposal to create an independent redistricting commission also has detractors in both parties.

A bill that aims to establish an independent redistricting commission to limit lawmakers鈥� role in drawing their own maps is expected to be introduced next month. Its sponsor, Rep. Natalie Figueroa, says it鈥檚 a necessary next step in removing politics from New Mexico鈥檚 process.

The election of all 70 seats in the New Mexico House was the first go around for a new district map. While Democratic control of the House will remain the same, the redistricting process may not.

State legislators passed only a fraction of the bills and resolutions introduced in this year鈥檚 short, 30-day session. One of proposals that stalled in committee was a resolution to reform the way redistricting is conducted in New Mexico. Its sponsor, Democratic Rep. Natalie Figueroa, spoke with 91暗网鈥檚 Nash Jones about what happened to the legislation and why she鈥檒l continue to advocate for it.