A. The names of the presidential elector nominees shall not be placed upon the general election ballot; instead, the secretary of state shall certify to the county clerks the names of persons nominated by each qualified political party for the offices of president and vice president of the United States.

B. The names of the nominees for president and vice president for each qualified political party shall be printed together in pairs upon the general election ballot. A vote for any pair of nominees shall be a vote for the presidential electors of the political party by which the nominees were named.

C. Except as provided in Subsection D of this section, presidential elector nominees of the party whose nominees for president and vice president receive the highest number of votes at the general election shall be the elected presidential electors for this state, and each shall be granted a certificate of election by the state canvassing board.

D. If the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote [1-15-4.1 NMSA 1978] is in effect in accordance with Article III, Subsection I of that compact, the state canvassing board shall grant a certificate of election to the presidential elector nominees of the party whose nominees for president and vice president receive the largest national popular vote total in the general election.

History: 1953 Comp., § 3-15-4, enacted by Laws 1969, ch. 240, § 354; 2019, ch. 199, § 2.

The 2019 amendment, effective June 14, 2019, provided an exception to the provision that presidential elector nominees of the party whose nominees for president and vice president receive the highest number of votes at the general election shall be the elected presidential electors for this state, and provided that if the Agreement Among the States to Elect the President by National Popular Vote is in effect, the state canvassing board shall grant a certificate of election to the presidential elector nominees of the party whose nominees for president and vice president receive the largest national popular vote total in the general election; in Subsection C, added "Except as provided in Subsection D of this section"; and added Subsection D.

Selection of unqualified persons as electors is tantamount to failure to select, which is specifically mentioned in the statute. State ex rel. Chavez v. Evans, 1968-NMSC-167, 79 N.M. 578, 446 P.2d 445 (decided under former law).

Indirect election of nominees valid. — Laws 1953, ch. 40 (now repealed), and the provisions of same are valid, even though it provides for the indirect or proxy elections of unlisted presidential election nominees in presidential general elections in New Mexico. 1954 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 54-5949 (opinion rendered under former law).