N.M. Stat. § 1-25-2 (2026)

As used in the Recall Act:

   A. "canvasser" means a person who circulates a petition and collects signatures;

   B. "county clerk" means:

       (1)    the clerk of the county in which the local jurisdiction is situate;

      (2)   in the case of a multicounty jurisdiction, the clerk of the county in which the
primary administrative office of the local jurisdiction is situate; and

      (3)     the clerk of each county containing any precinct in which votes may be cast for or
against the recall of a named official;

  C. "face sheet" means the first page of a petition containing the information required in the
Recall Act;

   D. "filing date" means the date on which the county clerk receives signed petitions for the
recall of one or more named officials;
   E. "initiation date" means the date on which the district court stamps the face sheet of the
petition after entering an order finding that probable cause exists to proceed with the recall
process;

    F. "malfeasance" means wrongful conduct that affects, interrupts or interferes with the
performance of official duties; provided that if the act is discretionary, the act was performed
with an improper or corrupt motive;

   G. "misfeasance" means performing a legal act in an improper or illegal manner and the
conduct evinces an improper or corrupt motive;

   H. "named official" means an elected official of a local jurisdiction subject to the Recall Act
and who is named on a petition;

   I. "petition" means a document consisting of a completed face sheet or exact duplicate
thereof and as many subsequent pages as are necessary for signatures;

   J. "petitioner" means a person, group or organization initiating the petition;

   K. "subsequent page" means the pages in a petition after the face sheet; and

   L. "violation of oath of office" means to refuse or neglect to perform, without any just cause,
any of the duties that are or shall be required by law of the named official.

History: 1953 Comp., § 77-4A-6, enacted by Laws 1977, ch. 308, § 3; 1985, ch. 169, § 1; 1978
Comp., § 22-7-3, recompiled and amended as § 1-25-2 by Laws 2019, ch. 212, § 160.

                                          ANNOTATIONS

Recompilations. — Laws 2019, ch. 212, 160 recompiled and amended former 22-7-3 NMSA
1978 as 1-25-2 NMSA 1978, effective April 3, 2019.

The 2019 amendment, effective April 3, 2019, changed the name of the "Local School Board
Member Recall Act" to the "Recall Act", and defined "county clerk", "filing date", "initiation date",
"malfeasance", "misfeasance", and "violation of oath of office", and revised other definitions, for
purposes of the Recall Act; in Subsection A, after "means a", deleted "registered voter" and
added "person"; deleted former Subsections B and C, which defined "date of closure" and "date
of initiation", respectively; added a new Subsection B and redesignated former Subsection D as
Subsection C; in Subsection C, after "information", deleted "as provided in Subsections D and E
of Section 22-7-6 NMSA 1978"; deleted former Subsection E, added new Subsections D
through G and redesignated former Subsections F through H as Subsections H through J,
respectively; in Subsection H, after "named", deleted "member" and added "official", after
"means", deleted "a local school board member" and added "an elected official of a local
jurisdiction subject to the Recall Act and who is"; deleted former Subsections I and J, which
defined "registered voter" and "signature", respectively; in Subsection K, after "face sheet",
deleted "arranged as provided in Subsection G of Section 22-7-6 NMSA 1978"; and deleted
former Subsection L, which defined "county clerk", and added a new Subsection L.