EL PASO, Texas (Border Report) – While Texas clamps down on mail-in voting and bans the mailing of unsolicited ballots, its neighbor to the west is trying to expand who can vote and how they can do it.

The New Mexico Voting Rights Act calls for automatic voting registration of eligible citizens, declares Election Day a state holiday, creates a permanent mail-in ballot list and allows for 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in local races. House sponsor state Rep. Javier Martinez, D-Albuquerque, is optimistic the bill will pass during the ongoing legislative session.

“Most modern, industrialized nations have an Election Day holiday making sure people can be off from work and voting. And our bill also contains something that is near and dear to my heart, which is enfranchisement of 16- and 17-year-olds to vote in their local elections,” Martinez told Border Report.

Several states let 17-year-olds vote in party primaries as long as they will turn 18 by the time the general election comes. And a handful of municipalities allow for people as young as 16 to vote in school board elections. But New Mexico would be the first to open elections to all 16-year-olds in a state.

“The reasons are simple. We trust 16-year-olds to operate a motor vehicle to drive a car safely. We trust them with the ability to gainfully work for wages and to pay their taxes. The right to vote is no more […] complicated than driving a motor vehicle, working or paying your taxes,” Martinez said. “I think young people are not only the future of New Mexico, but young people have a lot to add to the public discussion.”

Both Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham and Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse support the bill. The Democratic spin is that it’s a response to “restrictive and discriminatory” ballot access policies in other states and inaction at the federal level.

“Even as we’ve seen attempts around the country to make voting more difficult for eligible voters, here in New Mexico we continue to be a leader in how to balance the demands for voter access with the needs of maintaining our high levels of election security,” Toulouse Oliver said this week.