Sunland Park mayor says he discovered missing bond questions while voting early
SUNLAND PARK, N.M. (KVIA) – Sunland Park Mayor Javier Perea said he discovered three Sunland Park bond questions weren't on the ballot for the November 2026 midterm election. Perea cast his ballot Friday, Oct. 30 -- four days before Election Day.
Friday evening, the City of Sunland Park announced the three General Obligation bond questions approved by city council won't appear on the ballot.
"I cast my ballot, and then that's when I reached out to the city staff and asking about, you know, why our questions weren't on there. And that's when things started rolling about. 'Hey, there might have been a mishap somewhere that prevented these questions from being included in the ballot,'" Perea said.
Perea said the sample ballot wasn't checked before Friday.
"I think the city confided in the fact that they had submitted the the election resolution with the ballot questions on time, and I guess there was confidence that that was the sufficient legal requirements to get that accomplished, and that my understanding is that there was no additional follow up on that," Mayor Perea said.
On Saturday, Oct. 31st, Doña Ana County released a statement saying the City of Sunland Park submitted a resolution and two ordinances to the Clerk's Office Recording & Filing Department.
"Placing a question on the ballot requires coordination with the Bureau of Elections, which prepares and certifies ballot content; recording a document with the Recording & Filing Department does not, on its own, initiate that process," the Doña Ana County statement said.
ABC-7 asked if the City of Sunland Park coordinated with the Bureau of Elections or just the Recording & Filing Department.
"Who has to do the coordination with the Bureau of Elections? I think that's the discussion that has to be had because under the statute, the statute only requires the entity to submit it for filing to the county clerk's office. The statute does not indicate that you have to go and coordinate with the Bureau of Elections. So I think that's the distinction between the two that has to be analyzed," Perea said.
The statute Perea referenced, NMSA 1978, 1-16-3(B), states, "The local government shall file a resolution proposing the ballot question with the county clerk of each county containing any precinct in which votes may be cast for or against the local government ballot question. Not less than sixty-seven days before the election, each county clerk shall certify the local government ballot question to the secretary of state."
Mayor Perea said his understanding at this point is that the City of Sunland Park didn't coordinate with the Doña Ana County Bureau of Elections.
When asked whose responsibility it is to submit that filing, Perea said it's ultimately up to the city manager, Mario Juarez-Infante.
In the Sunland Park statement sent Friday, Juarez-Infante said, "Residents were expecting to see these questions on their ballots, and we owe them a clear explanation. We are working to find out what happened and to give voters the chance to decide on these projects in the spring."
Mayor Perea said delaying the three bond questions on the ballot would delay funding for projects that were intended to start at the end of this year.
Perea said he believes the City of Sunland Park fulfilled its statutory requirement for the bond questions to appear on the ballot.
"The statute clearly says, you know, submit it to the County records for filing. It doesn't say, 'And go coordinate with the election department or go do extra work.' I think that's the struggle between the two," Perea said.
If voted in favor, the bond questions would have totaled $8.25 million. The three bond questions were:
- Shall the City of Sunland Park issue general obligation bonds, payable from property taxes, in an amount up to $2,225,000 for construction of a regional recreation center, upgrade current parks, and construction of the Rio Grande and other municipal multi-use trails and wayfinding?
- Shall the City of Sunland Park issue general obligation bonds, payable from property taxes, in an amount up to $2,500,000 for design, construction of a new public safety complex, and the purchase of new fire and public safety equipment and vehicles?
- Shall the City of Sunland Park issue general obligation bonds, payable from property taxes, in an amount up to $3,500,000 for work on existing roads, new construction on roadways, and construction and improvement of water and wastewater infrastructure?
Doña Ana County officials declined an interview ahead of Election Day. ABC-7 reached out with questions on where the statute specifies that Sunland Park should submit bond questions ahead of Election Day.
Caroline Zamora, Doña Ana County Chief Deputy Clerk, responded with the following statement:
On August 21, the City of Sunland Park recorded three documents with our Recording and Filing Department: a resolution and two ordinances. They were recorded like any other document, following standard recording procedure. Recording a document makes it an archived public record for future reference by interested parties. Filing the resolution with the Bureau of Elections did not occur. The Bureau of Elections received no communication of intention to include a ballot question for this general election and were first made aware of an issue on October 30th.
