Section 1-6-22.1 - Mail ballot election precinct; absentee voting in lieu of polling place. - New Mexico Statutes

1-6-22.1. Mail ballot election precinct; absentee voting in lieu of polling place.

A.     Notwithstanding the provisions of Section 1-1-11 NMSA 1978, a board of county commissioners may designate a precinct as a mail ballot election precinct if, upon a written request of the county clerk, it finds that the precinct has fewer than fifty voters and the nearest polling place for an adjoining precinct is more than thirty miles driving distance from the polling place designated for the precinct in question.  

B.     If a precinct is designated a mail ballot election precinct, in addition to the notice required pursuant to Section 1-3-8 NMSA 1978, the county clerk shall notify by registered mail all voters in that precinct at least forty days before an election that each voter will be sent an absentee ballot twenty-eight days before the election and that there will be no polling place for the precinct on election day.  The county clerk shall include in the notice a card informing the voter that if the voter does not want to receive an absentee ballot, the voter should return the card before the date the county clerk is scheduled to mail out absentee ballots.  The card shall also inform the voter that a voting system equipped for persons with disabilities will be available at all early voting sites before election day and in the office of the county clerk on election day in case the voter prefers to vote in person and not by mail.   

C.     The county clerk shall mail each voter in the mail ballot election precinct an absentee ballot on the twenty-eighth day before an election, unless the voter has requested otherwise, along with a notice that there will be no polling place in that precinct on election day.   

D.     The county clerk shall keep a sufficient number of ballots from a mail ballot election precinct such that if a voter from that precinct does not receive an absentee ballot before election day, the voter may vote on an absentee ballot in the office of the county clerk on election day in lieu of voting on the missing ballot.