Early voting for primary begins May 10, and other important dates

By Mike Cook

Las Cruces Bulletin

Early voting for New Mexico’s June 7 primary election begins May 10.

“Hopefully voters will see the importance of primary elections, as the candidates voters choose in the primary ultimately end up on the ballot in November,” said Doña Ana County Clerk Amanda Lopez Askin. “We encourage voters to review their registration status at NMVote.org to confirm that their information is up to date. For additional information on when and where to vote, they can also visit our website at DACElections.com.”

Important dates:

Tuesday, May 10:

• Same day, in-person voter registration begins.
• Early in-person voting begins at the county clerk’s office, county government building, 845 N. Motel Blvd. The clerk’s office will be open for early voting 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. on Saturday, June 4. The office will be closed Monday, May 30 for Memorial Day.
• The county clerk’s office begins mailing absentee ballots.

Here are secured-container locations where absentee ballots can be dropped off 24/7:

In Las Cruces: Doña Ana County Government Center, 845 N. Motel Blvd.; Las Cruces City Hall, 700 N. Main St.; Sonoma Elementary School, 4201 Northrise Drive.

Throughout the county: Mesilla Town Hall, 2231 Avenida de Mesilla; Anthony City Hall Municipal Complex, 820 Highway 478, Anthony; Sunland Park City Library, 1000 McNutt Road, Sunland Park; Delores C. Wright Educational Center, 400 E. Lisa Drive, Chaparral; and Hatch Valley High School, 170 E. Herrera Road, Hatch.

• Vote registration by mail or online closes.

Saturday, May 21: Expanded early voting begins at alternate sites throughout Doña Ana County.

Thursday, June 2: Last day to submit applications for absentee ballots.

Saturday, June 4: Early voting ends.

Tuesday, June 7: Election day: All absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. Same day voter registration ends.

Early voting

Early voting locations are open 11 a.m.-7 p.m. Tuesday-Saturday. They will be closed May 30 for Memorial Day. Visit www.donaanacountyelections.com/locations for early voting locations.

On the ballot

• Statewide: Governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, attorney general, state treasurer, state auditor and commissioner of public lands, two seats on the New Mexico Supreme Court and two seats on the state Court of Appeals.
• District: U.S. House of Representatives, District 2; New Mexico Public Education Commission;
• New Mexico Legislature: All 70 seats in the New Mexico House of Representatives. State senators serve four-year terms and none of those 42 seats are up in 2022.
• Doña Ana County: County commission, districts 1 and 3; county sheriff; county assessor; county probate judge; two Third Judicial District judgeships; seven county magistrate judgeships.

Not all races have contested primaries, and some races have only a single candidate who has no primary or general election population. County clerk, county treasurer and three seats on the county commission are not on the ballot this year.

New Mexico has a closed primary system, which means you can only vote in the Democratic primary if you are a registered Democrat, in the Republican primary if you are a registered Republican and in the Libertarian primary if you are a registered Libertarian. Those are the three major parties in New Mexico.

Democrats have at least one candidate on the primary ballot in every local race. There are contested primaries for one district judgeship, sheriff, assessor and probate judge.

Republicans have a contested primary for sheriff. There are no Republican candidates for either of the district judgeships, any of the magistrate judgeships, one New Mexico House seat that includes Doña Ana County, assessor or probate judge.

There are no Libertarian candidates running for any office in Doña Ana County in 2022.

Visit https://candidateportal.servis.sos.state.nm.us/CandidateList.aspx?eid=2827&cty=99 for candidate lists. Be sure to check at the far right, as 18 of the candidates listed have withdrawn from their races and another 18 were disqualified.

On that website, you can search by county, office and party. For example, if you want to see just Doña Ana County candidates, click on the county box that has the word “all” in; scroll down and click on “Dona Ana.”

You can also visit www.nmlegis.gov/Publications/2022_Candidates.pdf, which will show you all the candidates for the New Mexico House of Representatives. All House districts have been redrawn, which means House District 39 no longer contains any part of Doña Ana County, but House districts 32 and 38 now include parts of the county.

Check with the county clerk’s office for sample ballots and additional information at 575-647-7428 and

elections@donaanacounty.org.