1-6-4. Mailed ballot application.

803 words·~4 min read·/nm/chapter-1-elections/article-6-absentee-voting/1-6-4

A research copy — for the controlling text, always check the official state or federal source. Not legal advice.

A. In a statewide election, application by a voter for a mailed ballot shall be made only on the official form approved by the secretary of state or its online equivalent accessed through a website authorized by the secretary of state. The form shall identify the applicant and contain information to establish the applicant's qualification for issuance of a mailed ballot under the Absent Voter Act. A voter who has declined to designate on the voter's certificate of registration a party affiliation shall be provided the option on the application form for a mailed ballot in a primary election to request the ballot of one of the parties participating in the primary election.

B. Each application on a paper form for a mailed ballot shall be signed by the applicant and shall require the applicant's printed name, registration address and year of birth. When submitted by the voter, the county clerk shall accept an application for a mailed ballot pursuant to this subsection regardless of whether the application for a mailed ballot is delivered to the county clerk on paper or by electronic means. When submitted by a third party, the county clerk shall not accept an application for a mailed ballot pursuant to this subsection if the application for a mailed ballot is delivered by electronic means.

C. The secretary of state shall allow a voter to submit an online application for a mailed ballot through a website authorized by the secretary of state; provided that the voter shall have a current or expired New Mexico driver's license or state identification card issued by the motor vehicle division of the taxation and revenue department. An online request for a mailed ballot shall contain all of the information that is required for a paper form. The voter shall also provide the person's full New Mexico driver's license number or state identification card number.

D. When a voter requests a mailed ballot pursuant to this section, the voter shall mark the box associated with the following statement, which shall be included as part of the online mailed ballot request form:

"By clicking the boxes below, I swear or affirm all of the following:

[ ] I am the person whose name and identifying information is provided on this form and I desire to request a mailed ballot to vote in the state of New Mexico; and

[ ] All of the information that I have provided on this form is true and correct as of the date I am submitting this form.".

E. Online applications for mailed ballots shall retain the dates of submission by the qualified elector and of acceptance by the county clerk. For purposes of deadlines contained in the Election Code [Chapter 1 NMSA 1978], the time and date of the submission by the voter shall be considered the time and date when the application for a mailed ballot is received by the county clerk.

F. New registrants who registered for the first time in this state by mail and at that time did not provide acceptable documentary identification as required by federal law shall be informed of the need to comply with federal identification requirements when returning the requested ballot and notified that if the registrant votes for the first time in New Mexico by mail and does not follow the instructions for returning the required documentary identification, the registrant waives the right to secrecy in that mailed ballot.

The secretary of state shall issue rules to exempt voters from submitting identification only as required by federal law and shall review and, if necessary, update these rules no later than March 15 of even-numbered years.

G. A person who willfully and with knowledge and intent to deceive or mislead any voter, election board, canvassing board, county clerk or other election official and who falsifies any information on an absentee ballot request form or who affixes a signature or mark other than the person's own on a mailed ballot request form is guilty of a fourth degree felony.

History: 1953 Comp., § 3-6-4, enacted by Laws 1969, ch. 240, § 130; 1977, ch. 269, § 3; 1981, ch. 150, § 2; 1985, ch. 207, § 4; 1987, ch. 327, § 8; 1989, ch. 66, § 1; 1989, ch. 105, § 1; 1989, ch. 392, § 11; 1993, ch. 19, § 2; 1993, ch. 20, § 1; 1993, ch. 21, § 2; 1993, ch. 314, § 42; 1993, ch. 316, § 42; 1997, ch. 201, § 1; 1999, ch. 267, § 6; 2003, ch. 357, § 1; 2005, ch. 270, § 4; 2007, ch. 336, § 8; 2008, ch. 59, § 5; 2011, ch. 137, § 39; 2015, ch. 145, § 43; 2017, ch. 101, § 3; 2019, ch. 212, § 62; 2023, ch. 39, § 23; 2025, ch. 54, § 2.