AN ACT
RELATING TO ELECTIONS; ALLOWING EARLY
PROCESSING OF ABSENTEE BALLOT OFFICIAL MAILING ENVELOPES.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE LEGISLATURE OF
THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO:
Section 1. Section 1-6-14 NMSA 1978 (being Laws 1971,
Chapter 317, Section 11, as amended) is amended to read:
"1-6-14. HANDLING ABSENTEE BALLOTS BY ABSENT VOTER
PRECINCT BOARDS.--
A. Before opening an official mailing envelope,
the presiding judge and the election judges shall determine that the required
information has been completed on the reverse side of the official mailing
envelope.
B. If the voter's signature is missing, the
presiding judge shall write "Rejected" on the front of the official
mailing envelope. The election clerks
shall enter the voter's name in the signature rosters and shall write the
notation "Rejected--Missing Signature" in the "Notations"
column of the signature rosters. The
presiding judge shall place the official mailing envelope unopened in an
envelope provided for rejected ballots, seal the envelope and write the voter's
name on the front of the envelope and deposit it in the locked ballot box.
C. The accredited challengers may examine the
official mailing envelope and may challenge the ballot of any absent voter for
the following reasons:
(1) the official mailing envelope has been opened
prior to being received by the absent voter precinct board; or
(2) the person offering to vote is not a federal
voter, federal qualified elector, overseas citizen voter or voter as provided
in the Election Code.
Upon the challenge of an
absentee ballot, the election judges and the presiding election judge shall
follow the same procedure as when ballots are challenged when a person attempts
to vote in person. If a challenge is
upheld, the official mailing envelope shall not be opened but shall be placed
in an envelope provided for challenged ballots.
The same procedure shall be followed in canvassing and determining the
validity of challenged absentee ballots as with other challenged ballots.
D. If the official mailing envelopes have been
properly subscribed and the voters have not been challenged:
(1) the election judges shall open the official
mailing envelopes and deposit the ballots in their still-sealed official inner
envelopes in the locked ballot box; and
(2) the election clerks shall enter the absent
voter's name and residence address as shown on the official mailing envelope in
the signature rosters and shall mark the notation "AB" opposite the
voter's name in the "Notations" column of the signature rosters.
E. Prior to the closing of the polls, the
election judges and the presiding election judge may either remove the absentee
ballots from the official inner envelopes and count and tally the results of
absentee balloting or, under the personal supervision of the presiding election
judge and one election judge from each party, count and tally the absentee
ballots on an electronic voting machine the same as if the absent voter had
been present and voted in person. It is
unlawful for any person to disclose the results of a count and tally or the
registration on a voting machine of absentee ballots prior to the closing of
the polls.
F. Absentee ballots shall be counted and tallied
on an electronic voting machine as provided in the Election Code.
G. Absent voter precinct polls shall close at
the time prescribed by the Election Code for other polling places, and the
results of the election shall be certified as prescribed by the secretary of
state.
H. The county clerk may convene the absent voter
precinct board no more than three days before the day of the election to
alphabetize, enter on the roster and sort the absentee ballots by legislative
district; provided that a member of the absent voter precinct board shall not
open an official inner envelope or count and canvass any absentee ballot prior
to the day of the election."
HB 409
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