2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 1 - Elections › Article 4 - Registration of Electors › Section 1-4-5.7 - Registration at voting location prior to voting.

A. Notwithstanding the provisions of 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 or any early or 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.
C. 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 a voting location immediately before voting in a primary election.
D. 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 7:00 p.m. on election day; provided that the county clerk shall provide the voter with a ballot and balloting materials immediately after the qualified elector registers to vote or updates the existing certificate of registration.
E. A qualified elector seeking to register to vote or update an existing certificate of registration pursuant to this section shall provide a physical form of identification that is issued by the federal government, a state government, a federally recognized Indian nation, tribe or pueblo or an educational institution and that:
(1) contains the name of the qualified elector, which shall reasonably match the name provided on the certificate of registration;
(2) contains a photograph of the qualified elector, which shall resemble the qualified elector;
(3) need not contain an expiration date, and if it does, the expiration date is not required to be a date on or after the date of the election; and
(4) shall either:
(a) contain an address that matches the address provided for the certificate of registration; or
(b) be accompanied by an original or copy of a utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other document issued by an educational institution or government, including a document issued by a federally recognized Indian nation, tribe or pueblo, dated within the ninety days prior to the qualified elector registering to vote or updating an existing certificate of registration and that contains the name of the qualified elector, which shall reasonably match the name provided on the certificate of registration, and an address that matches the address provided for the certificate of registration.
F. If a voting location does not have real-time synchronization with the voting data at the office of the county clerk, a voter desiring to update an existing certificate of registration or to register to vote shall be issued a provisional paper ballot. A provisional paper ballot issued pursuant to this section shall be qualified and tabulated once the county clerk determines that the voter did not vote any other ballot in the same election and if no challenge is successfully interposed.
History:
Laws 2019, ch. 67, § 1; 2020 (1st S.S.), ch.2, § 1; 1978 Comp., § 1-4-5.7 repealed and reenacted by Laws 2023, ch. 84, § 4.
ANNOTATIONS
Repeals and reenactments.
— Laws 2023, ch. 84, § 4 repealed former 1-4-5.7 NMSA 1978 and enacted a new section, effective July 1, 2023.
The 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".