FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
1 June 2020
Contact:
Alex Curtas, Director of Communications
New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office
505-469-2783
Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver Provides Election Day Information for Primary Election Voters
SANTA FE – Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver is providing the following information for voters and media outlets ahead of tomorrow’s Primary Election.
Secretary Toulouse Oliver and the state’s county clerks have been encouraging voters to vote using an absentee ballot for the Primary Election and have seen an incredible response from voters. As of today, 201,409 New Mexicans who are eligible to vote in the Primary have voted using an absentee ballot. In-person voting has been utilized by an additional 59,703 voters, for a total Early Vote count of 261,112.
Since mailing deadlines for absentee ballots have passed, any voter who still has their absentee ballot can turn in their completed ballot to any Election Day polling place. Absentee ballots will be processed if they are received by the County Clerk no later than 7:00pm on Election Day.
All open polling places throughout the state will be open from 7:00am to 7:00pm on Election Day. Only major party voters registered as Democrats, Republicans, and Libertarians are able to participate in the Primary Election, as New Mexico is a closed-primary state.
If a voter chooses to vote in person at a polling place tomorrow there are few things to know. First, voters should plan for their voting experience to potentially take a little longer than usual due to the public health safety measures. Poll workers will be equipped with personal protective gear and will have masks available for voters to wear while voting, though election administrators encourage all voters to bring their own mask. Poll workers will be wiping down surfaces, following CDC best practices for sanitizing polling places, and maintaining social distancing practices throughout the voting process.
Voters should contact their county clerk for information about polling places that will be open on Election Day, as some counties have reduced their normal number of voting sites as a public health safety measure. Full contact information for all 33 New Mexico county clerks is available on the Secretary of State’s website: https://www.sos.nm.gov/voting-and-elections/voter-information/county-clerk-information/
While Secretary Toulouse Oliver does not anticipate any major delays in the reporting of election results after polls close at 7:00pm, because of the unprecedented nature of conducting an election during a global pandemic there is a possibility that the results in certain counties or for certain races might be delayed longer than usual.
Though same-day voter registration was available for new registrants throughout the early voting period, it will not be available at Election Day polling sites. This is because same-day voter registration is being phased-in in New Mexico and will not be available through Election Day until 2021.
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