With just eight weeks until Election Day, representatives from a coalition of 72 community-based organizations are traveling to small towns across the state to teach about Constitutional Amendment 4, which will be on this year’s ballot. If voters pass it this November, state lawmakers would receive a salary for the first time.
Currently, New Mexico is the only state that doesn’t offer their lawmakers a salary. But it’s unclear whether the public wants that or not.
So, the coalition of community-based organizations known as Vote 4 Change are bringing together neighbors and community members to share stories and voice their opinions.
Eli Cuna is the manager for the Community of Voices Tour. She said these events are to both inform and receive feedback from New Mexicans and ask what priorities they would fight for.
“It's like a reclaim back,” she said. “Who is the protagonista? Who is the main character of this story? It's us. It's not the politician. It's not the current politicians. It's about us.”
Cuna said the state legislature needs to be more representative of the community, but people can’t afford to take time off of work.
“If you wanna run, who wanna run for free? We have bills to pay,” she said. “We have so many realities, right? So if we can really provide democracy when people can make the choice, find that self-determination and do it with dignity, with a paycheck, then we are even changing how we are approaching politics in the future.”
The tour, which began in Las Cruces this past weekend will continue through September and October, and will travel to Farmington, Hobbs, and Roswell as well as metropolitan areas like Albuquerque and Santa Fe.
General Election is on Tuesday November 3, 2026.
Support for this coverage comes from Thornburg Foundation.
