Early voting for New Mexico General Election begins this week

Early voting opened Tuesday for the New Mexico general election, in which voters will decide the state’s next governor, attorney general, secretary of state, land commissioner and state representatives as well as the U.S. Senate seat and representatives in all three congressional districts, among others. In the state legislature, over 30 House seats are open to vote for, along with several constitutional amendments and bond measures, according to Source NM. 

The only in-person voting center will be located at the Clerk’s Annex until Oct. 17, when additional sites will be opened. Election Day will be held on Nov. 3, according to the Bernalillo County Clerk’s office. 

The University of New Mexico Student Union Building will serve as an early voting location beginning Oct. 17, and will be open Monday through Saturday from 10 a.m. to 7 p.m. according to University Libraries. 

NM Secretary of State Communications Director Lindsey Bachman wrote in a statement to the Daily Lobo that first-time voters should know that even though online voter registration and registration by paper form ends on Oct. 6, the state has same-day voter registration available to voters at every polling location during the early voting period and on Election Day. 

“To be eligible to register to vote in New Mexico, you must be a New Mexico resident, a U.S. Citizen, 18 years old on Election Day, and not incarcerated as a result of a felony conviction,” Bachman’s statement reads.  

Any registered voter in New Mexico, including out-of-state students, can apply for a mail ballot online at nmvote.org by Oct. 20, and in order for it to be counted, the voter’s County Clerk “must receive completed mailed ballots by 7:00 p.m. on Election Day.” according to Bachman. 

Liz Cooper, a Social Sciences Librarian at the University of New Mexico, said her number one recommendation for first-time voters is to print a sample ballot before heading out to vote. 

“(Voting) should be fun and exciting,” Cooper said. “I remember the first time I voted. I was in college, and I was excited to do it, because I'd gone with my parents as a kid…so it was fun the first time I did it.”

The Secretary of State’s office launched a voter information campaign on Sept. 18 that answers urgent questions, which Bachman told the Daily Lobo would be helpful for students.

In an earlier press release related to the campaign, Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said that she was concerned about “voters getting bad information about the process that keeps them from casting a ballot.” 

“We want to cut through the noise and provide voters with more information about what makes our process so great as well as the facts they need to safely vote and trust that their vote counted,” Toulouse Oliver said. 

Paloma Chapa is the news editor for the Daily Lobo. She can be reached at news@dailylobo.com or on X @paloma_chapa88

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