Section 3-9-8 - Care of absentee ballots; destruction of unused ballots by municipal clerk. - New Mexico Statutes

3-9-8. Care of absentee ballots; destruction of unused ballots by municipal clerk.

A.     The municipal clerk shall mark on each completed official outer envelope the date and time of receipt in the municipal clerk's office, record this information in the absentee ballot register and safely and securely keep the official outer envelope unopened until it is delivered on election day to the proper precinct board or until it is canceled and destroyed in accordance with law.  Once a ballot is officially accepted by the municipal clerk and recorded in the absentee ballot register, it cannot be returned to the voter for any reason.

B.     The municipal clerk shall accept completed official outer envelopes received by mail or delivered in person to the municipal clerk's office by the voter signing the official outer envelope, by a member of the voter's immediate family or by the caregiver to the voter until 7:00 p.m. on election day.  Any completed outer envelope received after that time and date shall be marked as to the time and date received, shall not be delivered to the precinct board and shall be preserved until the time for election contests has expired.  In the absence of a court order, after the expiration of the time for election contests, the municipal clerk shall destroy all late official mailing envelopes without opening or permitting the contents to be examined, cast, counted or canvassed.  Before their destruction, the municipal clerk shall count the numbers of late ballots from voters, overseas voters and federal qualified electors and record the number from each category in the absentee ballot register.

C.     After 5:00 p.m. and not later than 8:00 p.m. on the Friday immediately preceding the date of the election, the municipal clerk shall record the numbers of the unused absentee ballots and shall publicly destroy in the municipal clerk's office all unused ballots.  The municipal clerk shall execute a certificate of such destruction, which shall include the numbers on the ballots destroyed, and the certificate shall be placed within the absentee ballot register.

D.     At 7:00 p.m. on the day of the election, the municipal clerk shall determine the number of ballots that were mailed and have not been received and execute a "certificate of unreceived absentee ballots".  The certificate shall be placed in the absentee ballot register and shall become an official part of the register.  The municipal clerk shall determine the form of the certificate of unreceived absentee ballots.