Albuquerque mayor vetoes plan to change election thresholds; city council may override decision

ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – City councilors recently approved a ballot measure to let voters decide if the election for mayor and city council seats should be based on who receives the most votes or if there should be a minimum threshold. However, Mayor Tim Keller has vetoed the proposal.

Currently, to get elected, a candidate needs to receive at least 50% of the votes as well as receive more votes than other candidates to be considered the winner. City council considered changing that so that candidates could win if they received less than 50% of the votes, but still had more votes than any other candidate.

“This would drastically change the way we conduct city elections in Albuquerque,” Mayor Tim Keller said in a press release. “While no election system is perfect, this charter amendment takes Albuquerque in the wrong direction, and our community was loud and clear that this is not the right move for our city.”

Back before 2013, Albuquerque did use a lower threshold for elections. Candidates only needed to win at least 40% of the votes (as well as receive more votes than any other candidate). Then, voters changed the election system to its current configuration.

City council’s proposal would not have changed the way elections worked right away. Rather, the proposal was to let voters decide via a ballot question. Now, with the mayor’s veto, the question will remain off the ballot for now.

City Councilor Dan Lewis sent the following statement about the mayor’s decision: “Tim Keller didn’t veto a change in Albuquerque’s election system, he vetoed voters. I don’t know why the mayor doesn’t trust Albuquerque voters enough to allow them to choose how their own government should run.  It shows what he thinks of our City. We will move to override this ill-conceived decision at the next City Council meeting,” Lewis wrote.

If the council overrides the veto, the resolution would go to voters in November.

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