2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 1 - Elections › Article 6 - Absentee Voting › Section 1-6-16 - Mailed ballots; replacement and provisional paper ballots.

A. A voter who has applied for a mailed ballot or who has been sent a mailed ballot may execute an affidavit stating that the person did not and will not vote the mailed ballot that was issued. Upon receipt of the sworn affidavit, if the ballot register does not show that a ballot from the voter has been cast in that election, the county clerk shall void the mailed ballot that was previously issued to the voter.
B. A voter shall be mailed a replacement ballot to be returned to the county clerk for tabulation by the absent ballot election board if the voter:
(1) communicates with the office of the county clerk and requests a replacement mailed ballot be delivered to the voter; and
(2) has executed the affidavit required by Subsection A of this section and the county clerk has voided the mailed ballot previously issued to the voter.
C. A replacement ballot shall not be mailed to a voter less than seven days before election day, unless the voter is enrolled in the confidential substitute address program pursuant to the Confidential Substitute Address Act [Chapter 40, Article 13B NMSA 1978].
D. A voter shall be issued a replacement ballot to be filled out and fed by the voter into the electronic vote tabulator if the voter:
(1) appears at the office of the county clerk, an alternate voting location or a mobile alternate voting location:
(a) at any time during the period for early voting if the county clerk has real-time synchronization between the early voting locations and the qualification of mailed ballots; or
(b) during the period for early voting until the time the county clerk begins qualifying mailed ballots if the county clerk does not have real-time synchronization between the early voting locations and the qualification of mailed ballots; and
(2) has executed the affidavit required by Subsection A of this section and the county clerk has voided the mailed ballot previously issued to the voter.
E. If the county clerk does not have real-time synchronization between the early voting locations and the qualification of mailed ballots, a voter shall be issued a provisional paper ballot to be filled out and delivered to the county clerk for tabulation during the county canvass if:
(1) the voter appears at an early voting location after the time the county clerk begins qualifying mailed ballots; and
(2) the voter has executed the affidavit required by Subsection A of this section and the county clerk has voided the mailed ballot previously issued to the voter.
F. 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.
G. The secretary of state shall prescribe the form of the affidavit and the manner in which the county clerk shall void the previously requested absentee ballot.
History:
1953 Comp., § 3-6-15, enacted by Laws 1969, ch. 240, § 141; 1981, ch. 150, § 5; 1989, ch. 368, § 2; 1989, ch. 392, § 15; 1999, ch. 267, § 18; 2011, ch. 137, § 46; 1978 Comp., § 1-6-16, repealed and reenacted by Laws 2019, ch. 212, § 74; 2023, ch. 39, § 33.
ANNOTATIONS
Repeals and reenactments.
— Laws 2019, ch. 212, § 74 repealed former 1-6-16 NMSA 1978 and enacted a new section, effective April 3, 2019.
The 2023 amendment,
effective June 16, 2023, provided that a replacement ballot shall not be mailed to a voter less than seven days before election day, unless the voter is enrolled in the confidential substitute address program pursuant to the Confidential Substitute Address Act"; and added a new Subsection C and redesignated former Subsections C through F as Subsections D through G, respectively.
The 2011 amendment,
effective July 1, 2011, prohibited a person who has been issued an absentee ballot from voting other than on a replacement absentee ballot and prohibited replacement absentee ballots from being placed in a voting system for tabulation of votes cast at the county clerk's office or an alternate voting location.