New Mexico ballot measure · November 3, 2026
New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 2, explained
Allow school elections to be held with partisan elections. A ballot measure is a yes-or-no question put directly to voters — no candidate is involved, and the wording on the ballot is the wording that becomes law. This page shows that wording first, then what it actually changes.
The official wordingWhat appears on the ballot. Everything below explains it.
PROPOSING TO AMEND ARTICLE 7, SECTION 1 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF NEW MEXICO TO REMOVE THE REQUIREMENT THAT SCHOOL ELECTIONS BE SEPARATE FROM PARTISAN ELECTIONS.
What it actually means
New Mexico's constitution says school elections must be held at a different time from partisan elections. That rule dates from the 1910 constitutional convention, when women could vote only in school elections. It means a district wanting voter approval for a bond or mill levy must either wait for the November local election in odd years or pay for its own all-mail special election. This amendment deletes the sentence. It does not itself move any election; it removes the constitutional bar, leaving the timing to the Legislature and to districts.
If you vote YES
- The sentence "All school elections shall be held at different times from partisan elections" would be struck from Article 7, Section 1.
- School districts could put bond and mill levy questions on the general election ballot in November of even-numbered years, as other local governments already may.
- Districts would avoid the cost of a standalone all-mail election, which the Legislative Council Service puts at $125,000 to $250,000 depending on district size and the number of questions.
- The Legislature would also gain the power to move school board elections onto partisan ballots by statute, though the amendment does not do that itself.
- Districts could still choose to hold a special election instead.
If you vote NO
- Article 7, Section 1 keeps the requirement that school elections be held separately from partisan elections, as voters confirmed in 2008 when they allowed school elections to be combined with nonpartisan local elections only.
- The only statewide election a district may join remains the regular local election in November of odd-numbered years, alongside municipal and other nonpartisan races.
- A district needing a bond or mill levy at any other time must keep paying for its own special mail ballot election out of school funds.
- School board elections stay off partisan ballots, and the Legislature could not move them there without another vote of the people.
The numbers that matter
- Cost of a school district special mail ballot election
- $125,000 to $250,000
- When the separation rule began
- 1910, at the constitutional convention
- Last time voters changed this rule
- 2008
New Mexico Legislative Council Service, 2026 guide to the proposed constitutional amendments
New Mexico Legislative Council Service background, which notes women could then vote only in school elections
Voters allowed school elections to be held with nonpartisan elections while keeping the bar on partisan ones
What each side says3 for, 3 against — quoted, not summarised
Why supporters say YES
The change is "really to streamline" a district's process for putting bond questions before voters, and the current rule is "kind of the last little semblance of women not being allowed to vote in anything but school elections."
— State Sen. Linda Trujillo (D-Santa Fe), co-sponsor, to Source New Mexico
"School districts use school funding to pay for the required, expensive all-mail ballots. A special election can cost between $125,000 to $250,000, depending on the size of the district and the number of issues. Constitutional Amendment 2 would allow school districts the option of placing a bond or mill levy question on the general election ballot in November of even-numbered years, just as local governments are allowed to do under current law."
— New Mexico Legislative Council Service, "Arguments For" in its 2026 guide to the proposed constitutional amendments
"Off-cycle school board elections systematically give an advantage to whichever group is best organized and most motivated to turn out the vote. … Folding school elections into the November general election, where voter turnout routinely triples or quadruples that of standalone school elections, would ensure that outcomes reflect the preferences of the full electorate."
— New Mexico Legislative Council Service, "Arguments For" in its 2026 guide to the proposed constitutional amendments
Why opponents say NO
"Voters overwhelmingly approved the prohibition on holding school elections with partisan elections in 2008. … While Constitutional Amendment 2 only removes the prohibition and does not affirmatively require that school elections be held with partisan elections, it does not limit the legislature's ability to pass future legislation … to allow school board elections to be held with partisan elections. By remaining silent on that issue, Constitutional Amendment 2 may open up school elections to increased political influence."
— New Mexico Legislative Council Service, "Arguments Against" in its 2026 guide to the proposed constitutional amendments
"Teachers, school staff and the education associations that represent them are among the most directly affected stakeholders in school governance decisions, and the higher rate of participation in school elections from these experts is not a distortion of democracy. Moving school issues onto the general election ballot does not necessarily create a more informed electorate but rather a larger one that may know less about school issues."
— New Mexico Legislative Council Service, "Arguments Against" in its 2026 guide to the proposed constitutional amendments
"The importance of school issues on a partisan general election ballot may be diminished by the attention provided to candidates for higher office. … Voters may be less informed about local school issues and sometimes ignore down-ballot races and bond questions." The Council Service also notes that adding questions could push general election ballots in some counties past two full pages, raising printing costs and voter fatigue.
— New Mexico Legislative Council Service, "Arguments Against" in its 2026 guide to the proposed constitutional amendments
What's genuinely uncertain
- The amendment only removes a prohibition. Whether school board elections actually move onto partisan ballots would be a later decision for the Legislature, and nothing in the amendment says it must or must not happen.
- Whether higher turnout makes school bond questions more or less likely to pass is asserted on both sides and not settled by evidence cited in the official guide.
- Sen. Trujillo says a common misunderstanding is that this would let school board candidates run with party labels; the amendment does not do that, but it also does not prevent a future Legislature from allowing partisan school board races.
- No fiscal impact statement for this amendment was located, and no campaign committee has registered on either side.
The bottom line
Cheaper school elections decided by far more voters, against the risk that school questions get lost on a long partisan ballot — and that a future Legislature moves school board races onto it too.
One neutral sentence describing the tradeoff — not a recommendation.
Sources (3)The numbers in the text above link here
- 12026 General Election: Statewide Constitutional Amendments and General Obligation Bonds — New Mexico Secretary of State — sos.nm.gov
- 2Summary of and Arguments For and Against the Constitutional Amendments Proposed by the Legislature in 2025 and 2026 — New Mexico Legislative Council Service — nmlegis.gov
- 3New Mexico Election 2026: Constitutional Amendments 1-3 — Source New Mexico — sourcenm.com
Checking it against the official text
The New Mexico Secretary of State publishes the certified measures and, in most states, an official voter guide with fiscal notes. That is the authoritative version. Everything here is an explanation of it, not a substitute for it.
Confirm this with the official source
Your ballot is determined by your election authority, not by us. Verify your registration, precinct, and sample ballot at New Mexico Secretary of State.
Other measures on the New Mexico ballot
- Constitutional Amendment 1 — End the governor's pocket veto and require veto explanations
- Constitutional Amendment 3 — Nominating committees for university boards of regents
- Constitutional Amendment 4 — Salaries for state legislators
- Bond Question 1 — Senior citizen facility bonds
- Bond Question 2 — Library acquisition bonds
- Bond Question 3 — Higher education, special schools and tribal schools bonds
Candidates on the same ballot
- U.S. Senate election in New Mexico
- New Mexico governor's race
- New Mexico's 1st congressional district
- New Mexico's 2nd congressional district
- New Mexico's 3rd congressional district