Albuquerque voters won’t get the chance to weigh in on removing a decades-old restriction after a “clerical error” by the City Clerk’s Office left a charter amendment off the Nov. 4 municipal election ballot, despite City Council approval in March.
The measure should have appeared on this year’s ballot alongside the city’s general obligation bond questions, but only the bond measures appeared.
The proposal, P-25-7, sought to repeal a 1991 charter rule requiring voter approval before the city could spend more than $10 million on a performing arts center. The measure passed the council unanimously on March 3 to be placed on the 2025 Regular Local Election ballot but was mistakenly left off by the clerk’s office.
Councilor Joaquín Baca, who sponsored the amendment, said he discovered the omission last Friday after being contacted by a resident who asked why the measure wasn’t on the ballot. City Clerk Ethan Watson later confirmed the mistake.
“I think it’s pretty unprecedented for something like this to happen,” Baca said. “Nobody knows what the proper procedure for fixing it is.”
The clerk’s office acknowledged responsibility Tuesday, saying it is “exploring all options to ensure voters can weigh in on this matter as soon as possible,” according to a statement from the office. The oversight has raised questions about how ballots are prepared and what safeguards exist to prevent similar mistakes.
Baca said the charter restriction dates to when the city passed quality-of-life projects that built the BioPark, Tingley Beach, Explora and open space. He called it an odd provision to include in the city charter, comparing it to “putting in the U.S. Constitution saying you will not build a building.”
If approved, the amendment would have allowed the city to fund a performing arts center over $10 million without a public vote.
Baca said options under consideration include placing the measure on a potential December runoff ballot, if one occurs, or reintroducing the bill to either the current council or the new council taking office in January.
He noted a runoff could pose challenges because turnout usually drops compared to a general election.
Baca said he doesn’t believe the mistake warrants disciplinary action, calling it an honest administrative error on a relatively minor amendment. Still, he said, “There definitely needs to be procedures in place to make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
“Maybe this is a silver lining,” Baca said. “Allows us to fix an issue that nobody foresaw, and now we can take care of it before it becomes something much worse.”