Want to vote? Registration ends today
SANTA FE -- Not registered to vote? You'll have to do it by the end of the day today (May 6) if you want to cast a ballot in the June 3 primary. The race, meanwhile, is underway, with absentee voting kicking off today. Early voting starts May 17.
As Matthew Reichbach reported today the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office and county clerks across the state are bracing for the possibility of record turnout in this year's primary and general elections, thanks to a perfect political storm of sorts: an historic presidential race and a slew of hot congressional races sparked by Sen. Pete Domenici's retirement.
The enthusiasm appears to be sending New Mexicans in droves to their county clerk's offices, which have been processing thousands of new voter registrations over the past few months. For example, in Santa Fe County -- the third largest in terms of registered voters -- has handled nearly 3,000 new registrations since December, according to County Clerk Valerie Espinoza. The office processed only 1,784 new registrations all of last year.
Denise Lamb, Santa Fe County's Chief Deputy Clerk for Elections, thinks there may be an even bigger surge of new voter registrations between the June 3 primary and the November general election. Lamb was a long-time state elections administrator before joining the Santa Fe County Clerk's office in Dec. 2004. She recalled that during the 2004 race, the state recorded 120,000 new registrations between the primary and general elections.
"I think we'll see something similar this year," Lamb said.
As of January 25, there were 1,062,951 registered voters in New Mexico, according to the Secretary of State's Office. Lamb said that New Mexico surpassed the 1,000,000 mark for the first time in 2004.
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