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Ballot Explained

New Mexico ballot measure · November 3, 2026

New Mexico Constitutional Amendment 3, explained

Nominating committees for university boards of regents. 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 AN AMENDMENT TO ARTICLE 12, SECTION 13 OF THE CONSTITUTION OF NEW MEXICO TO ESTABLISH NOMINATING COMMITTEES TO PROVIDE LISTS OF NOMINEES TO THE GOVERNOR FOR APPOINTMENT OF NONSTUDENT MEMBERS TO THE BOARDS OF REGENTS OF STATE EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS; PROVIDING THAT STUDENT MEMBERS OF BOARDS OF REGENTS SHALL BE APPOINTED FROM A LIST PROVIDED BY AN ELECTED STUDENT GOVERNING BODY OF THE INSTITUTION; PROVIDING THAT, EXCEPT FOR A STUDENT MEMBER, MEMBERS OF THE BOARDS OF REGENTS SHALL NOT HAVE CHANGED THEIR POLITICAL PARTY REGISTRATION IN THE TWELVE MONTHS PRECEDING APPOINTMENT.

What it actually means

New Mexico's ten state educational institutions — the universities plus the Military Institute and the schools for the deaf and for the blind and visually impaired — are run by boards of regents the governor appoints and the Senate confirms. Today the only real limits are residency and a cap on how many board members share a party. This amendment would require the Legislature to set up a nominating committee for each institution, and the governor could then appoint only from that committee's list. Student regents would be named from a list produced by the elected student government rather than by the institution's president, and nobody who switched party registration in the past year could be appointed.

Y

If you vote YES

  • The Legislature would have to create a nominating committee for each of the ten state educational institutions, with no more than half of any committee from one political party.
  • The governor could nominate regents only from the list a committee provides; the Senate would still confirm.
  • Student regents would be appointed from a list provided by the elected student governing body of their institution, instead of by the institution's president.
  • Anyone who changed political party registration in the 12 months before appointment would be disqualified, except a student member — and the same bar would apply to members of the nominating committees.
  • Board sizes and terms would not change: five regents at each institution, seven at the University of New Mexico, six-year staggered terms for non-student members and two years for students. The new process would apply only to future appointments.
N

If you vote NO

  • Article 12, Section 13 keeps the present process: the governor nominates whomever meets the qualifications, and the Senate confirms.
  • The only limits stay as they are — a regent must be a qualified New Mexico elector, no more than three of five (or four of seven at UNM) may share a party at the time of appointment, and there is no requirement of relevant experience.
  • Student regents continue to be chosen from a list drawn up by the institution's president, who is asked to consider the student body president's recommendations.
  • Nothing bars a recent party switcher from being appointed, and no nominating committees are created.
The numbers that matter
Institutions affected
10

The state educational institutions listed in Article 12, Section 11 of the New Mexico Constitution

Board size
5 regents, or 7 at the University of New Mexico

Article 12, Section 13; unchanged by the amendment

Cap on nominating committee membership from one party
No more than 50%

Text of House Joint Resolution 1 (2026)

Party registration bar
No change of party registration in the 12 months before appointment

Text of House Joint Resolution 1 (2026); does not apply to student regents

What each side says3 for, 2 against — quoted, not summarised

Why supporters say YES

  • The current system has let governors across several administrations appoint friends and political allies: "It's been abused and we've had too many appointments that had no higher education experience and nothing to offer our state."

    — State Sen. Jeff Steinborn (D-Las Cruces), co-sponsor, to Source New Mexico

  • "Through establishing regent nominating committees by law, the legislature will ensure that a nominating committee provides to the governor a list of nominees who would best serve the interests of the institution as a regent. Presuming that the regent nominating committees will comprehensively vet the best qualified prospective regents, there could be more accountability in the governance of the state educational institutions."

    — New Mexico Legislative Council Service, "Arguments For" in its 2026 guide to the proposed constitutional amendments

  • "Without requiring substantive qualifications for regents to guide the governor's appointments to boards of regents, the current appointment process allows for outsized political influence on the membership of the boards of regents. By requiring the establishment of bipartisan or nonpartisan regent nominating committees, the amendment could insulate the appointment process from politics or other partisan considerations."

    — New Mexico Legislative Council Service, "Arguments For" in its 2026 guide to the proposed constitutional amendments

Why opponents say NO

  • "Traditionally, the executive has the power to appoint, and the Senate has the power to advise and consent. … Constitutional Amendment 3 obscures the responsibility for appointment decisions by diluting the governor's authority. Additionally, in establishing the nominating committees, the legislature further obscures the governor's and Senate's appointment-related responsibilities as currently provided by the Constitution of New Mexico."

    — New Mexico Legislative Council Service, "Arguments Against" in its 2026 guide to the proposed constitutional amendments

  • "By creating a nominating committee, the proposed amendment would remove some of that responsibility from the governor and the Senate, which are both accountable to the voters. A nominating committee, on the other hand, is not accountable to the voters. The governor can argue that he or she can only consider the nominees provided by the nominating committee, thus lessening the governor's accountability for the selection."

    — New Mexico Legislative Council Service, "Arguments Against" in its 2026 guide to the proposed constitutional amendments

What's genuinely uncertain
  • The amendment does not say who sits on the nominating committees, how they are chosen or what standards they must apply. It requires the Legislature to decide all of that by law, so the practical effect depends on a statute that does not yet exist.
  • Whether a nominating committee would in fact be less political than a governor's office, given that the Legislature would design it, is contested and untested in New Mexico.
  • The party-switching bar is new and there is no published estimate of how many past or prospective appointees it would have disqualified.
  • No fiscal impact statement for this amendment was located, and no campaign committee has registered on either side.
  • Sen. Steinborn told Source New Mexico the resolution passed at the "perfect moment — between governors, when no one was protecting their power"; how a future governor would work with the committees is not knowable now.

The bottom line

Whether regents should be vetted by a committee before a governor can pick them — better qualified boards and less patronage, against the cost of moving a choice voters can hold a governor and senators responsible for into a body they cannot.

One neutral sentence describing the tradeoff — not a recommendation.

Sources (3)The numbers in the text above link here
  1. 12026 General Election: Statewide Constitutional Amendments and General Obligation Bonds — New Mexico Secretary of State — sos.nm.gov
  2. 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
  3. 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.

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