New Mexico’s election administrators not only follow all state and federal guidelines to keep our voter rolls clean and up-to-date, but go above and beyond those requirements. And although no one can know how you voted, county clerks and poll workers access real time data from electronic poll books at voting locations, so that if a voter has voted they are not permitted to vote again in an election. 

The Secretary of State’s Office and New Mexico county clerks follow all state and federal guidelines to keep our voter rolls clean and up-to-date. We also go above and beyond those requirements.  

New Mexico’s election administrators are required by law to maintain and update voter rolls continually. This includes checking obituaries, receiving monthly reports from NM Vital Statistics about deceased individuals, and suspending or reinstating voters based on incarceration information from the Department of Corrections.   

New Mexico also participates in the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC). As a member of ERIC, states are able to securely exchange data from motor vehicle departments, Social Security Administration records, and other databases to compare voters across all member states.   

Additionally, County Clerks send frequent election-related material to registered voters at their registration addresses and then use that information to do voter record list maintenance.  

Voters also can update voter registration information online, when they renew their driver’s licenses, and through same day voter registration immediately prior to voting. 

These systems combine to ensure that voter information is up-to-date, resulting in our state having some of the “cleanest” voter records in the United States. 

New Mexico uses hand-marked, paper ballots that are scanned on an optical scan tabulating system. This system is never connected to the internet and is used for early voting, to count mailed ballots, and on Election Day at each polling location. New Mexico’s voting equipment is uniform statewide. 

Three separate audits ensure accuracy of the election results. 

• Following an election, the election results are canvassed or audited so that accuracy is ensured. Canvassing first happens at the county level where county staff review the results, and they are certified by the County Canvass Board.  

• Then, a second canvass is completed by a new team of staff at the Secretary of State’s Office. Finally, the results that have already been reviewed at the county and state level are audited by an independent contractor before they are forwarded to the State Canvass Board to be made official. 

• New Mexico conducts a risk-limiting audit following every statewide election. This process involves randomly selecting races and precincts throughout the state and hand counting the results in those precincts. The hand counted results are then compared to the normal machine counted results to ensure accuracy. Any discrepancies between the results are thoroughly investigated.  

And, if a contest is incredibly close, New Mexico law requires that the contest be recounted to affirm the result. 

The results of every independent post-election audit that’s been conducted in New Mexico since 2004 are downloadable from our website. 

Yes. Your address determines your ballot, including which districted offices and bond questions appear on it. Fill out a new registration form even if you just moved across town.

Yes. You can register or update your voter registration and vote the same day at your County Clerk’s Office, early voting location or at a polling location on Election Day.

To register to vote at a polling location, a physical photo ID issued by the federal government, a state government, a federally recognized Indian nation, tribe or pueblo, or an educational institution is required. The name on it should reasonably match your registration. It can be expired. If the address on your ID doesn’t match your registration, bring a utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or a document from a school or government office dated within the last 90 days. 

The physical ID is required only for the purposes of voter registration at polling locations and is not a requirement to vote. 

Tuesday, November 3, 2026. 

You can vote at your county clerk’s office starting October 6th. Additional early voting sites open October 17th. Early voting ends on October 31st. You can see your county’s early voting sites on your County Clerk’s website or on NMVote.org.

You can find your closest voting location on NMVote.org.

Usually, no. You don’t have to present identification to vote in a statewide election. You’ll give your name, year of birth, and registered address, out loud or in writing. One exception: if you registered by mail for the first time in New Mexico and didn’t include ID with your form, you’ll need to show it when you vote. 

Anyone can request assistance in completing their ballot at a polling location. Anyone you choose can help you, except your employer or their agent, an officer or agent of your union, or a candidate on the ballot.

No. By law, no one can find out how you voted. Parts of your registration record are public, including your party and whether you voted in a given election, but never your ballot choices.

The period of time when voting occurs only at the County Clerk’s Office is referred to in-person absentee voting. Mail-in and absentee voting by mail are the same thing. You request an absentee ballot and mail it in.  

Any registered voter in New Mexico can request an absentee ballot and use it to vote by mail. You do not need an “excuse” or reason to vote absentee.  

There are three ways to request a mail-in (absentee) ballot.

– Fill out an application online.
– Contact your county clerk’s office in person or by phone, mail or email.
– Download an Absentee Ballot Application and mail it in or hand deliver it to your County Clerk’s Office.

Eligible voters can now opt in to the permanent absentee list to automatically be sent a mail-in (absentee) ballot for each statewide election by their County Clerk. You can sign up for the permanent absentee list while requesting a ballot online or by submitting a paper application.  

Your county clerk has to receive your application no later than October 20th.

Return postage is prepaid.  

But if you have not returned your completed mailed ballot by October 27th and still intend to do so, you are encouraged to utilize one of the following in-person options: 

• Take it your County Clerk’s Office. 
• Return it to a polling location in your county. 
• Insert it into an official election drop box in your county. 

You don’t have to. You can drop it off at your County Clerk’s Office, official election drop box, or at any polling location in your county.

Official election drop boxes are monitored by video and include alerts for tampering, excessive heat and weather exposure. County Clerks are required to regularly check for and retrieve ballots submitted through ballot drop boxes during an election. 

Yes, you can sign up to receive updates about the status of you mailed absentee ballot here: Track My Ballot 

Ballots must be returned by 7:00 p.m. on Election Day to be counted. If you have not returned your completed mailed ballot by October 27th and still intend to do so, you are encouraged to utilize one of the following in-person options: 

• Take it your County Clerk’s Office. 
• Return it to a polling location in your county.
• Insert it into an official election drop box in your county. 

Yes. A member of your immediate family, your caregiver, or someone with whom you have a personal ongoing relationship may hand-deliver your absentee ballot. You (the voter) must sign the official mailing envelope of the absentee ballot. An unrelated third party may not deliver another voter’s absentee ballot. 

Yes. Go to your polling place and sign a sworn statement stating you did not and will not vote using the mailed ballot, and a ballot will be printed for you to cast in-person at the polling location.

Contact your County Clerk for a replacement mailed ballot, or go to any polling place in your county, sign a sworn statement that you didn’t receive it, and vote there.

If you’re voting by mail, you can check whether your County Clerk received your ballot and whether it was accepted using the link below. Your County Clerk’s Office can also tell you this information over the phone. 

Track My Ballot  

Paper lets us audit, verify the machine count, and recount a single race or an entire election if it comes to that.

No. Law and procedure keep tabulators off the internet. 

Yes, voting tabulators are tested and certified before every election. Tabulators run real paper ballots with a known result to confirm they count correctly, including over-votes and under-votes. The expected outcome is then checked at every step to verify county and state totals and the results shown on the results website. 

Yes, more than once. County staff canvass the results first. A different team at the state level canvasses them again. Then, an independent contractor audits the results before they go to the State Canvass Board to be made official. 

Yes. After every statewide election, New Mexico runs a risk-limiting audit. Races and precincts are selected at random, those ballots are counted by hand, and the hand count is compared to the machine count. Any discrepancy is investigated.

Election night results are unofficial. Counting every vote and meeting the state’s auditing requirements can’t be done in a single day.