Voting and Elections

Governing Section of the Election Code (Article 7 – Political Parties)

Major Parties (Qualified Political Parties in New Mexico)

• Democratic Party of New Mexico
• Libertarian Party of New Mexico
• Republican Party of New Mexico

In New Mexico, only major political party candidates will appear on the Primary Election ballot. The three major political parties are the New Mexico Democratic Party, the New Mexico Republican Party and the Libertarian Party of New Mexico.

Minor Parties (Qualified Political Parties in New Mexico)

• Free New Mexico Party
• Green Party of New Mexico
• Party for Socialism and Liberation of New Mexico

Qualified minor party candidates may appear on the General Election ballot and are nominated for office pursuant to the party rules on file with the Secretary of State and pursuant to NMSA 1978 §§ 1-8-2 and 1-8-3.

Party Qualification Process

Pursuant to Section 1-7-2(A) NMSA 1978, to qualify as a political party in New Mexico, each political party through its governing body shall adopt rules providing for the organization and government of that party and shall file the rules with the secretary of state.

Uniform rules shall be adopted throughout the state by the county organizations of that party, where a county organization exists, and shall be filed with the county clerks.

At the same time the rules are filed with the secretary of state, the governing body of the political party shall also file with the secretary of state a petition containing the hand-printed names, signatures, addresses of registration and counties of residence of at least one-half of one percent of the total votes cast for the office of governor at the preceding general election who declare by their signatures on the petition that they are voters of New Mexico and that they desire the party to be a qualified political party in New Mexico.

Download the  Minor Party Blank Petition Form here.

Party Disqualification Process

Pursuant to Section 1-7-2NMSA 1978, A qualified political party shall cease to be qualified for the purposes of the Election Code [Chapter 1 NMSA 1978] if two successive general elections are held without at least one of the party’s candidates on the ballot or if the total votes cast for the party’s candidates for governor or president of the United States, provided that the party has a candidate seeking election to either of these offices, in a general election do not equal at least one-half of one percent of the total votes cast for the office of governor or president of the United States, as applicable.

No later than March 15 of an odd-numbered year, the secretary of state shall send notice of nonqualification to the state chair of any political party that fails to remain qualified, notify all county clerks of the removal and nonqualification of the political party, and post the notice on the web site maintained by the secretary of state.

To requalify, the party shall again comply with the provisions of the Election Code dealing with filing requirements for political parties – see party qualification process listed above.