A. Notwithstanding the provisions in Section 1-4-8 NMSA 1978 providing for the closing of registration prior to an election, a qualified elector seeking to register to vote or update an existing certificate of registration in the state shall be allowed to do so at a voting location immediately before voting in that election after signing an affidavit under oath that the elector has not voted in the election in this state or elsewhere, and as further provided in this section.
B. During a statewide election, a qualified elector may register to vote or update an existing certificate of registration at the county clerk's office during the regular hours and days of business beginning on the twenty-eighth day preceding the election and from 10:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m. on the Saturday immediately prior to the date of the election; provided that if the county clerk establishes an additional alternate voting location near the clerk's office in lieu of voting at the office of the county clerk, a qualified elector may register to vote or update an existing certificate of registration at that location during the regular hours and days of business beginning on the twenty-eighth day preceding the election and during the hours for voting at alternate voting locations commencing on the third Saturday prior to the election through the Saturday immediately prior to the election.
C. During a statewide election, a qualified elector may register to vote or update an existing certificate of registration at an alternate voting location only if the county clerk has assigned a county clerk employee to be the clerk's authorized deputy to serve as a registration officer at the alternate voting location; provided that ninety days before the election, the county clerk shall post the location of each alternate voting location where a qualified elector may register to vote or update an existing certificate of registration immediately before voting.
D. Beginning January 1, 2021 and upon the approval of the voting system certification committee, during a statewide election, a qualified elector may register to vote or update an existing certificate of registration at an election day voting location; provided that the secretary of state shall establish procedures to ensure that a registration officer has an opportunity to review the information of a qualified elector who registers to vote or updates an existing certificate of registration immediately before the qualified elector votes on election day.
E. A voter whose political party affiliation on the voter's certificate of registration is with a major political party shall not be allowed to change party affiliation when updating an existing certificate of registration or registering to vote at an early voting site or polling place during a primary election.
F. During a special election, a qualified elector may register to vote or update an existing certificate of registration at the county clerk's office during the regular hours and days of business beginning on the twenty-eighth day preceding the election until the last regular business day the week prior to the date of the election.
G. A qualified elector seeking to register to vote or update an existing certificate of registration immediately before voting shall provide:
(1) a New Mexico driver's license or New Mexico identification card issued through the motor vehicle division of the taxation and revenue department;
(2) any document that contains an address in the county together with a photo identification card; or
(3) a current valid student photo identification card from a post-secondary educational institution in New Mexico accompanied by a current student fee statement that contains the student's address in the county.
H. If an early voting site or polling place does not have real-time access to the statewide electronic voter file, a voter desiring to update an existing certificate of registration or to register to vote shall be issued a provisional ballot.
I. No later than June 30, 2021 and upon the approval of the voting system certification committee, the secretary of state and the secretary of taxation and revenue shall develop a procedure for importing the list of eligible but unregistered persons with a driver's license or state-issued identification card into the voter registration electronic management system prior to an election to facilitate processing a new voter registration pursuant to this section.
History: Laws 2019, ch. 67, § 1; 2020 (1st S.S.), ch.2, § 1.
ANNOTATIONSThe 2020 (1st S.S.) amendment, effective September 20, 2020, authorized voters that are not affiliated with a major political party to change their party affiliation at voting locations before voting in primary elections; and in Subsection E, after "A voter", added "whose political party affiliation on the voter's certificate of registration is with a major political party".