New Mexico Administrative Code › Title 1 - GENERAL GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION › Chapter 10 - ELECTIONS AND ELECTED OFFICIALS › Part 25 - THIRD-PARTY REGISTRATION AGENTS › Section 1.10.25.8 - SECRETARY OF STATE PROCEDURES

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 13, July 16, 2024
A.
				All voter registration organizations shall register with the secretary of state
				or a county clerk, prior to the provision of substantive assistance to a
				registrant, on a prescribed form that will be made available on the internet on
				the secretary of state's website and at county clerk offices. The form may be
				hand-delivered, hand-delivered by another person, or delivered by mail or as a
				portable document format (.pdf) file via email to the secretary of state's
				office. The form must bear a legible notary seal or the equivalent.
B. All third-party registration agents shall
				register with the secretary of state or a county clerk, prior to the provision
				of substantive assistance to a registrant, on a prescribed form that will be
				made available on the internet on the secretary of state's website and at
				county clerk offices. The form may be hand-delivered, hand-delivered by another
				person, or delivered by mail or as a portable document format (.pdf) file via
				email to the secretary of state's office. The form must bear a legible notary
				seal or the equivalent. Third-party voter registration agents shall not be
				required to fill out the requisite forms in person at the secretary of state's
				or a county clerk's office.
C. The
				secretary of state's office shall time and date stamp each completed voter
				registration form received before sending the form to the appropriate county
				for entry into the voter registration database.
D. Beginning March 1, 2011, the secretary of
				state shall prescribe a certificate of voter registration that includes a
				receipt for voter registration that shall be provided to the voter by the
				third-party registration agent. The voter's receipt shall include language
				informing the voter that the third-party registration agent is responsible for
				returning the original certificate of voter registration to the secretary of
				state or county clerk if he or she assists in completing the form -
i.e.
, if he or she takes possession of the completed form -
				and that failure of the third-party registration agent to do so will result in
				the voter not being registered to vote in elections in New Mexico.
E. The secretary of state shall keep a record
				of all certificates of voter registration with a traceable number that is
				provided to voter registration organizations. The secretary of state shall also
				provide New Mexico voter registration forms in quantities of twenty (20) per
				third party voter registration agent. The secretary of state retains discretion
				to increase these quantities for special events and circumstances. Any member
				of a voter registration organization may pick up blank New Mexico voter
				registration forms, including on behalf of other third party voter registration
				agents in the organization, provided, however, that any agent picking up forms
				for another agent must produce the absent agent's completed log pursuant to
				Subsection H of 1.10.25.8 NMAC. The secretary of state shall also keep a list
				of all third-party registration agents which will be available on the secretary
				of state's website.
F. For purposes
				of computing any time period specified in this rule, the secretary of state's
				office and its agents shall exclude intermediate Saturdays, Sundays, and
				federal or state holidays.
G. All
				third party voter registration agents must complete training regarding the use
				of voter registration forms, the requirements that Section
				1-4-49
				NMSA 1978, places on third party voter registration agents, and the penalties
				for failing to comply with Section
				1-4-49
				NMSA 1978. Such training will be offered in person, both from the secretary of
				state's office and from each county clerk in the state of New Mexico, but
				training must also be made available to all third party voter registration
				agents who cannot attend in person, including making training available through
				the internet on the secretary of state's website.
H. Each third party voter registration agent
				shall maintain a log regarding the use of each blank state of New Mexico voter
				registration card the agent receives from the secretary of state or a county
				clerk. The log, the form of which will be available on the secretary of state's
				website, shall include the unique identification number associated with each
				form, whether the registrant or the third party voter registration agent took
				possession of the form upon completion by the registrant, and, if the third
				party voter registration agent took possession of the form upon completion by
				the registrant, the date the form was completed by the registrant. Third party
				voter registration agents shall produce a completed log when requesting
				additional blank voter registration forms from the secretary of state or a
				county clerk.