Section 1-8-36.1 - Primary Election Law; write-in candidates. - New Mexico Statutes

1-8-36.1. Primary Election Law; write-in candidates.

A.     Write-in candidates are permitted in the primary election only for the offices of United States representative, members of the legislature, district judges, district attorneys, public regulation commission, public education commission, magistrates and any office voted upon by all voters of the state.

B.     A person may be a write-in candidate only for nomination by the major political party with which the person is affiliated as shown by the certificate of registration, and such person shall have the qualifications to be a candidate in the primary election for the political party for which the person is a write-in candidate.

C.     A person desiring to be a write-in candidate for one of the offices listed in Subsection A of this section in the primary election shall file with the proper filing officer a declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate.  Such declaration of intent shall be filed before 5:00 p.m. on the second Tuesday in March.

D.     A write-in vote shall be counted and canvassed only if:

(1)     the name written in is the name of a declared write-in candidate and shows two initials and last name; first name, middle initial or name and last name; first and last name; or the full name as it appears on the declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate and misspellings of the above combinations that can be reasonably determined by a majority of the members of the precinct board to identify a declared write-in candidate; and 

(2)     the name is written on the proper line provided on the ballot for write-in votes for the office for which the candidate has filed a declaration of intent and the voter has followed the directions for casting a vote for the write-in candidate. 

E.     At the time of filing the declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate, the write-in candidate shall be considered a candidate for all purposes and provisions relating to candidates in the Election Code [Chapter 1 NMSA 1978], including the obligations to report pursuant to the Campaign Reporting Act [1-19-25 NMSA 1978], except that the write-in candidate's name shall not be printed on the ballot.

F.     No unopposed write-in candidate shall have the write-in candidate's nomination certified unless the write-in candidate receives at least the number of write-in votes in the primary election as the write-in candidate would need signatures on a nominating petition pursuant to the requirements set out in Section 1-8-33 NMSA 1978.

G.     A write-in vote shall be cast by writing in the name and following the directions for casting a vote for the write-in candidate.  As used in this section, "write-in" does not include the imprinting of any name by rubber stamp or similar device or the use of preprinted stickers or labels.