Just days before early voting begins for New Mexico’s primary election, 20 of the state’s 33 county clerks’ websites make no mention of a legislative change enabling independent voters to cast ballots in the upcoming primary election, according to a Source NM review.
The June 2 primary election marks the first time that “decline to state” voters – ones unaffiliated with a political party – don’t have to register with a major political party to cast ballots in those parties’ primary races to choose candidates for the general election ballot. In New Mexico, only the major parties, which are the Republican and Democratic parties, appear on primary ballots.
Early voting begins Tuesday, May 5.
The number of independent voters has grown in New Mexico in recent months. The increases have occurred in urban and rural areas in Democratic and Republican strongholds alike, according to a Source NM analysis.
But advocates who pushed the Legislature to enact so-called semi-open primaries have said the biggest remaining challenge is educating independent voters about the change.
Jeremy Gruber, a senior vice president of Open Primaries, Inc., a national organization advocating for open primaries, noted in an email to Source NM that county clerks have a responsibility to inform voters about the latest election changes.
“County election sites are where many voters get their information,” he said.
New Mexico Forward Party Chair Bob Perls, who advocated for the semi-open primaries, said county clerks are perpetrators of either “malpractice” or “malfeasance” for failing to update their websites despite months of notice. He said it’s another example of why county clerks should be elected on a nonpartisan basis.
“What’s more important than letting 25% of voters know that they can vote?” he told Source NM on Friday. “If you haven’t planned that months ahead of time, then it’s negligent.”
The 20 counties without semi-open primary information represent about one-third of New Mexico’s population, according to a Source NM review.
Of them, Sandoval County has the highest population, with slightly more than 150,000 people.
Sandoval County Deputy Clerk Joey Dominguez told Source NM on Friday that the office is finalizing a “tab” dedicated to semi-open primaries. He said errors on draft educational materials caused the delay.
“There’s a couple documents that had some errors that we are not able to release yet. But yes, great point,” he said. “And we will add it definitely before Tuesday.”
The rest of the counties without updated information lie largely in rural areas. Most of the sites contain links to the Secretary of State’s Office site, which has a page dedicated to semi-open primaries.
Colfax County’s page for “frequently asked questions” appears not to have been updated for a decade. As of Friday, Quay County’s election page had been “suspended.” Officials from those counties did not respond to Source NM’s requests for comment Friday.
Gruber’s organization has been tracking New Mexico county clerks’ websites since April 5. On that date, 23 counties lacked information about semi-open primaries.
Lindsey Bachman, director of communications, legislative and executive affairs for the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office, told Source NM Friday that county clerks are ultimately responsible for the information on their websites. She noted that the office has not received a formal complaint about the lack of information on county clerks’ websites, but would investigate if they did so.
She added that the Secretary of State’s Office is sending mailers directly to independent voters.
“We have encouraged county clerks to review their websites to ensure they accurately reflect information regarding the transition to semi-open primary elections,” she said in an email Friday. “And we have provided clerks’ offices with graphics our office is using to communicate with the public about the change.”
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