Los Alamos Reporter

Tuesday’s County Budget Hearing Continued, Special Council Set For May 1

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COUNTY NEWS

Tuesday night’s Los Alamos County Budget Hearing Continuation has been cancelled as budget deliberations were completed with the approval of the budget Monday evening.

Council has slated a special virtual session for 6:30 p.m. Friday, May 1 to vote on Incorporated County of Los Alamos Resolution No. 20-04: A Resolution Amending Resolution No. 19-08 (A Resolution Designating the Location of Election Day Polling Places for All Statewide and Special Elections Conducted in 2020 and 2021; and Establishing the County Canvassing Board Through the End of 2021) to Reduce the
Number of Election Day Polling Places for the June 2, 2020 Primary Election.

The agenda material for the meeting indicates that County Clerk Naomi Maestas proposed, and the County Council accepted, the designation of the Betty Ehart Senior Center Downstairs Classroom and Room 631 at the University of New Mexico-Los Alamos, as consolidated polling locations for Precincts 8 through 14 for all statewide and special elections conducted in 2020 and 2021 through the adoption of Resolution 19-08 at a public hearing  conducted on June 25, 2019.

Those consolidated polling locations which are the smallest in-room area of the consolidated polling locations in the County, are currently closed due to the pandemic, and pose the highest risk for the spread of COVID-19 due to the difficulty in maintaining appropriate social distancing, as well as meeting other requirements  imposed by the Executive Orders and Public Health Orders issued by the Governor of New Mexico and Secretary of the New Mexico Department of Public Health in response to the current pandemic.

On April 16, the New Mexico Supreme Court expressly found that in-person voting poses a substantial health risk to New Mexicans, and required the mailing of an absentee ballot application for the June 2 Primary Election to every major party registered voter in New Mexico, and ordered that the conduct of in-person voting comply with all applicable Executive Orders and Public Health Orders issued by the Governor and the Secretary of the Department of Public Health.