A. In a primary election, not less than sixty days before the election, each county clerk shall group each candidate who has been qualified by a proper filing officer and a space for any offices with a declared write-in candidate, separated by political party and certify in writing a separate ballot for each precinct in the county for each major political party to be voted on at the primary election.

B. In a general election, not less than sixty days before the election, each county clerk shall certify in writing the ballot for each precinct in the county containing the name of each candidate that has been certified as the nominee of a qualified political party, each unaffiliated candidate who has been qualified by a proper filing officer, a space for any offices with a declared write-in candidate and any ballot questions to be voted on at the general election.

C. In a regular local election, not less than sixty days before the election, each county clerk shall certify in writing the ballot for each precinct in the county containing the name of each candidate who has been qualified by a proper filing officer, a space for any offices with a declared write-in candidate and any ballot questions to be voted on at the regular local election.

D. In a special local election, not less than sixty days before the election, each county clerk shall certify in writing the ballot for each precinct in the county containing any ballot questions to be voted on at the special election.

E. In a special state election, not less than sixty days before the election, the secretary of state shall certify in writing the ballot containing any ballot questions to be voted on at the special state election.

F. In an election to fill a vacancy in the office of United States representative and except as provided in Subsection G of this section, not less than fifty-three days before the election, the secretary of state shall certify in writing the ballot containing the name of each candidate that has been certified as the nominee of a qualified political party, each unaffiliated candidate who has been qualified and a space for any declared write-in candidate to be voted on at the election to fill a vacancy in the office of United States representative.

G. In an election to fill a vacancy in the office of United States representative in extraordinary circumstances pursuant to 2 U.S.C. Section 8(b), not more than seventeen days after the announcement of a vacancy in the office of United States representative, the secretary of state shall certify in writing the ballot containing the name of each candidate that has been certified as the nominee of a qualified political party, each unaffiliated candidate who has been qualified and a space for any declared write-in candidate to be voted on at the election to fill a vacancy in the office of United States representative.

H. On the date specified for each election in this section, each ballot certified pursuant to this section shall be sent to the ballot printer or other person preparing the ballot for use by voters and sent to the secretary of state to keep on file for twelve months, after which the certified ballot shall be transferred to be a permanent record at the state records center. Upon request of the county chair of a political party participating in a partisan election, the county clerk shall furnish proof sheets or a copy of the proof sheets of the certified ballot as soon as they become available.

History: 1953 Comp., § 3-10-11.4, enacted by Laws 1977, ch. 222, § 27; 1979, ch. 378, § 11; 1981, ch. 143, § 1; 1985, ch. 207, § 21; 2011, ch. 137, § 71; 2017, ch. 101, § 14; 2019, ch. 212, § 99.

Cross references. — For position of names on ballots, see 1-15A-8, 1-10-3, 1-10-8 and 1-10-8.1 NMSA 1978.

The 2019 amendment, effective April 3, 2019, revised the ballot preparation procedures for each types of election; in Subsection A, added "In a primary election, after "not less than", deleted "sixty-three" and added "sixty", after "shall group", deleted "all candidates for", after "each", added "candidate who has been qualified by a proper filing officer and a space for any offices with a declared write-in candidate, separated by political"; in Subsection B, added "In a general election", after "not less than", deleted "sixty-three" and added "sixty", after "nominee of a qualified political party,", added "each unaffiliated candidate who has been qualified by a proper filing officer, a space for any offices with a declared write-in candidate", and after "and any", deleted "constitutional amendments, questions or other propositions that are to be voted on and certify all such information to the ballot printer. A copy of each certification shall be kept on file in the office of the secretary of state." and added "ballot questions to be voted on at the general election", and added the remaining language; added new Subsections C through G; and in Subsection H, added the first sentence.

The 2017 amendment, effective June 16, 2017, changed the deadlines for preparation of ballots; and in Subsections A and B, after "Not less than", deleted "fifty-six" and added "sixty-three".

The 2011 amendment, effective July 1, 2011, required the secretary of state to prepare primary election ballots fifty-six days before the election, to prepare general election ballots fifty-six days before the election, and to furnish proof sheets of the ballot to the county chair of each political party upon request.