2023 New Mexico Statutes › Chapter 1 - Elections › Article 6 - Absentee Voting › Section 1-6-10 - Receipt of mailed ballots by clerk.

A. Completed official mailing envelopes that are received at the county clerk's office or a polling place or that are retrieved from the post office or a monitored secured container shall be accepted until 7:00 p.m. on election day. A completed official mailing envelope received after that time shall not be qualified or opened but shall be preserved by the county clerk for the applicable retention period provided in Section 1-12-69 NMSA 1978. The county clerk shall report the number of late ballots from voters, uniformed-service voters and overseas voters and report the number from each category to date on the final mailed ballot report and as part of the county canvass report. If additional late ballots are received, the county clerk shall update the number of late ballots from each category to the secretary of state.
B. On the day a returned mailed ballot is received by the county clerk, the county clerk shall mark the date of receipt on the outside of the official mailing envelope. Within one business day of receiving a returned official mailing envelope, the county clerk shall remove the privacy flap to verify that the voter signed the official mailing envelope and to confirm that the last four digits of the social security number provided by the voter match the information available to the county clerk; provided that no county clerk or deputy county clerk shall perform the verification process pursuant to this subsection unless the county clerk or deputy county clerk would also meet the requirements to be a challenger, watcher or election observer pursuant to Paragraphs (1) through (4) of Subsection C of Section 1-2-22 NMSA 1978.
C. If the voter's signature is present and the last four digits of the voter's social security number match, the county clerk shall note in the absentee ballot register that the information required to be provided by the voter under the privacy flap has been verified and shall safely keep the official mailing envelope unopened in a locked and number-sealed ballot box until it is delivered to the absent voter election board.
D. If either the voter's signature is missing or the last four digits of the voter's social security number are not provided or do not match, the county clerk shall make the appropriate notation in the absentee ballot register and shall safely keep the official mailing envelope unopened in a secured ballot box designated for those official mailing envelopes received that are missing the voter's signature or the last four digits of the voter's social security number or where the last four digits of the social security number do not match the information available to the county clerk. The county clerk shall immediately send the voter a notice to cure containing information regarding how the voter may provide documentation to cure the missing or incorrect information.
E. If, pursuant to Subsection F of Section 1-6-4 NMSA 1978, the voter was notified of the need to comply with federal identification requirements when returning the requested ballot and failed to comply, the county clerk shall preserve the inner envelope with the official mailing envelope and write "Rejected" on the front of the official mailing envelope, and the county clerk shall update the ballot register accordingly and immediately send the voter a notice to cure containing information regarding how the voter may provide the missing or incorrect information. The county clerk shall place the official mailing envelope with the attached inner envelope in a container provided for rejected ballots; provided that if the county clerk was required to open the inner envelope to determine that the required documentary identification was not included, the untallied ballot shall be returned to the inner envelope and preserved along with the official mailing envelope in a container for this purpose.
F. The voter may provide the missing or corrected information at any time up to the conclusion of the appeal process for rejected ballots. If a voter provides the missing or corrected information:
(1) before the absent voter election board has been convened, the county clerk shall attach the documentation to the unopened official mailing envelope, update the ballot register accordingly and transfer the ballot to the locked and number-sealed ballot box until it is delivered to the absent voter election board;
(2) after the absent voter election board has been convened, the county clerk shall attach the documentation to the unopened official mailing envelope, update the ballot register accordingly and transfer the ballot to the absent voter election board;
(3) after the adjournment of the absent voter election board but before the conclusion of the county canvass process, the county clerk shall attach the documentation to the unopened official mailing envelope, update the ballot register accordingly and transfer the ballot to an election board convened to assist in preparation of the county canvass report; and
(4) after approval of the county canvass report, the voter may appeal in accordance with appeal procedures for provisional ballots established by rule of the secretary of state pursuant to Section 1-12-25.2 NMSA 1978.
G. In a statewide election, if the unopened official mailing envelope is received by the county clerk from an election board before the absent voter election board has adjourned, the unopened official mailing envelope shall be transmitted to the absent voter election board to be tallied immediately. If the unopened official mailing envelope is received by the county clerk from an election board after the absent voter election board has adjourned, the unopened official mailing envelope shall be transmitted to an election board convened to assist in preparation of the county canvass report to be tallied and included in the canvass report of that county for the appropriate precinct.
History:
1953 Comp., § 3-6-10, enacted by Laws 1969, ch. 240, § 136; 1975, ch. 255, § 88; 1981, ch. 150, § 4; 1983, ch. 232, § 4; 1989, ch. 392, § 13; 1999, ch. 267, § 14; 2005, ch. 270, § 48; 2007, ch. 336, § 10; 2011, ch. 137, § 44; 2015, ch. 145, § 48; 2019, ch. 212, § 71; 2023, ch. 39, § 30.
ANNOTATIONS
Cross references.
— For absentee ballot register,
see
1-6-6 NMSA 1978.
For handling of absentee ballots by absent voter precinct boards,
see
1-6-14 NMSA 1978.
The 2023 amendment,
effective June 16, 2023, revised the duties of the county clerk related to receiving mailed ballots; deleted former Subsection A and added new Subsections A through F and redesignated former Subsection B as Subsection G; in Subsection G, after each occurrence of "shall be", deleted "logged and", and added "to an election board convened to assist in preparation of the county canvass report"; and deleted former Subsections C and D.
The 2019 amendment,
effective April 3, 2019, changed "absentee ballots" to "mailed ballots", changed "precinct board" to "election board", and revised the procedure for receiving mailed ballots; in the section heading, deleted "absentee" and added "mailed"; in Subsection A, after "delivered to the", deleted "absent voter precinct" and added "proper election", after "board,", added "counted in the county canvass", after "or", deleted "until it is"; added a new Subsection B and redesignated former Subsection B as Subsection C; in Subsection D, after "shall not be", deleted "delivered to the absent voter precinct board" and added "qualified or opened", after "preserved by the county clerk", deleted "until the time for election contests has expired. In the absence of a restraining order after expiration of the time for election contests, the county clerk shall destroy all late official mailing envelopes without opening or permitting the contest to be examined, cast, counted or canvassed. Before their destruction" and added "for the applicable retention period provided in Section 1-12-69 NMSA 1978", after "The county clerk shall", deleted "count" and added "report", and after "each category", added "to date on the final absentee ballot report and as part of the county canvass report. If additional late ballots are received, the county clerk shall update the number of late ballots from each category"; and deleted former Subsection C, which related to the county clerk recording the number of unused ballots and the destruction of those ballots.
The 2015 amendment,
effective July 1, 2015, removed the reference to "federal qualified electors" and added "uniformed-service voters" in the provision that requires the county clerk to count and report the number of late ballots from these voters; and in Subsection B, after "the numbers of late ballots from voters", added "uniformed-service voters and", and after "overseas voters", deleted "and federal qualified electors".
The 2011 amendment,
effective July 1, 2011, eliminated the requirement that county clerks or absent voter precinct boards accept mailing envelops from precincts and required county clerks to prepare unused ballots for delivery to precinct boards as an alternative to destroying the ballots.
The 2007 amendment,
effective April 2, 2007, authorized the county clerk to accept completed official mailing envelopes from precincts within the county.
The 2005 amendment,
effective July 1, 2005, in Subsection A, deleted the former reference to the exception in Section 1-6-14(H) NMSA 1978 and the former reference to the delivery of the ballot box on election day to the precinct board; and in Subsection B, provided that the absent voter precinct board shall accept envelopes from precincts within the county of the voters who turned in their absentee ballots at their precinct by the close of polls on election day.
The 1999 amendment,
effective June 18, 1999, substituted "and number-sealed ballot box, except as provided in Subsection H of Section 1-6-14 NMSA 1978, until it is delivered on election day to the proper absent voter precinct board" for "ballot box until it is delivered on election day to the proper precinct board" in Subsection A.