By Noah Gollin, NM Political Report — Almost 6,000 voters used New Mexico’s same day voting process to participate in local elections statewide on Tuesday. About half of those exercised that option in Bernalillo County where a competitive mayor’s race and contested council and school board races drew higher-than-normal turnout for local elections.
Voters who needed to register to vote or who needed to change their registration information were able to do so on-site at polling places throughout the early voting period leading up to Election Day.
New Mexico’s legislature authorized same-day registration in 2019 but the state took a cautious approach to implementing it, according to a 2021 report from KUNM News. New Mexico is one of 22 states, plus Washington, D.C., to offer the option.
Voters wanting to register or make a change could not just walk in and vote with verbal attestations like other voters. Same-day voters had to present multiple forms of identification verifying addresses and other vital statistics, just like all voters do when they register to vote at the Department of Motor Vehicles.
Same-day registration was available for new voters and for those updating information such as name, address, or party. However, it could not be used to request absentee ballots and voters cannot use it to switch parties during a primary.