Section 1-6-6 - Absentee ballot register. - New Mexico Statutes

1-6-6. Absentee ballot register.

A.     For each election, the county clerk shall keep an "absentee ballot register", in which the county clerk shall enter:

(1)     the name and address of each absentee ballot applicant; 

(2)     the date and time of receipt of the application;

(3)     whether the application was accepted or rejected;

(4)     the date of issue of an absentee ballot in the county clerk's office or at an alternate location or the mailing of an absentee ballot to the applicant;

(5)     the applicant's precinct; 

(6)     whether the applicant is a voter, a federal qualified elector or an overseas voter;

(7)     whether the voter is required to submit identification pursuant to Section 1-6-5 NMSA 1978; and

(8)     the date and time the completed absentee ballot was received from the applicant by the county clerk or the absent voter voted early in person in the county clerk's office or at an alternate location.

B.     Absentee ballots shall be sent to applicants beginning twenty-eight days before the election.  For each application for an absentee ballot received twenty-three or more days before the election, the county clerk shall send either the ballot or a notice of rejection to the applicant as soon as practicable, provided it is sent not later than twenty-two days before the election. Within twenty-two days of election day, the county clerk shall send either the ballot or a notice of rejection to the applicant within twenty-four hours after receipt of the voter's application for an absentee ballot.

C.     The absentee ballot register is a public record open to public inspection in the county clerk's office during regular office hours.  The county clerk shall have an updated absentee ballot register available for public inspection Monday through Friday during regular office hours.

D.     The county clerk shall deliver to the absent voter precinct on election day a complete list of all absentee ballot applicants and early voters with applicable information shown in the absentee ballot register for each applicant and early voter up to 6:00 p.m. on the Saturday preceding the election.  The county clerk shall deliver a signature roster containing the same information as the lists to the absent voter precinct board.

E.     Upon request, the county clerk shall transmit to the county chair of each of the major political parties in the county a complete copy of entries made in the absentee ballot register.  Such transmissions shall be made once each week beginning four weeks immediately prior to the election.  A final copy shall be transmitted on the Saturday immediately following the election.

F.      If the county clerk has available the technology to do so, at the request of a candidate or chair of a political party of the county, the county clerk shall electronically transmit to the candidate or chair via the internet the information, when updated, on the absentee ballot register indicating voters who have requested absentee ballots, returned their absentee ballots or voted early in person.