A. A voter who requested and received an absentee ballot shall be allowed to deliver the official mailing envelope containing the voter's absentee ballot on election day to any polling location in the county in which the voter is registered if the voter presents the official mailing envelope to the presiding judge before the polls close on election day.

B. The judge shall note that the voter delivered the absentee ballot in person on election day. The official mailing envelope shall not be opened but shall be placed in an envelope provided for delivery to the county clerk. The precinct board [election board] shall deliver the unopened official mailing envelopes to the county clerk before midnight on election day.

C. If the unopened official mailing envelope is received by the county clerk from a precinct board [election board] before the absent voter precinct board [election board] has adjourned, it shall be logged and transmitted to the absent voter precinct board [election board] to be tallied immediately. If the unopened mailing envelope is received by the county clerk from a precinct board [election board] after the absent voter precinct board [election board] has adjourned, it shall be logged and transmitted to the county canvassing board to be tallied and included in the canvass of that county for the appropriate precinct.

History: Laws 2005, ch. 270, § 60; 2007, ch. 336, § 16; 2011, ch. 137, § 87.

Bracketed material. — The bracketed material was inserted by the compiler and is not part of the law.

Laws 2019, ch. 212, § 283, effective April 3, 2019, provided that references in the Election Code to "precinct board", shall be deemed to be references to "election board", as that term is defined in Section 1-1-13 NMSA 1978.

The 2011 amendment, effective July 1, 2011, permitted voters to return absentee ballots to any polling place in the county; provided that official mailing envelopes for absentee ballots that are delivered to a judge shall be delivered to the county clerk unopened; and provided for the processing of absentee ballots by the county clerk.

The 2007 amendment, effective April 2, 2007, provided that the precinct board shall deliver unopened envelopes to the county clerk.