New Mexico Voices for Children Core Value: Civic Participation Our collective and individual voices matter

Issue Areas:
Elections and Open Government

New Mexico Voices for Children believes everyone's voice has a place in our government. We support policies that encourage civic participation within communities and the government, and we keep our members informed about what's happening locally and nationally with our e-Voices. We especially encourage participation of young people in the development of policies that impact them and their peers.

Policy Priorities:

• Public financing of political campaigns. Running for public office has become so expensive that only people with money or connections can afford to do so. Because of the expense, elected officials are more beholden to those who financed their campaigns than to those who voted them into office. Recent court rulings, determining that money equals free speech, serve to further disenfranchise vulnerable populations—children, low-income families, the elderly and the disabled. When candidates have the option of running a publicly financed campaign, the field of candidates enlarges to include more women and minorities, and voters have the option of electing someone more likely to represent their best interests.
• Web casting of legislative committee sessions to enable citizens to view the legislative process.