A. Challengers, watchers and county canvass observers shall:

(1) not be permitted to perform any duty of an election board member;

(2) not handle the ballots, signature rosters, checklist of voters or voting machines or take any part in the counting or tallying of the ballots or the county canvass;

(3) not be allowed to view a voter's full date of birth or any portion of the voter's social security number;

(4) not interfere with the orderly conduct of the election, the counting or tallying of the ballots or the county canvass;

(5) be allowed in the room in which the voting is being conducted at a polling location; provided that at any given time, each political party, candidate or election-related organization may have no more than one person present; and

(6) be allowed in the room in which the absent voter election board, the recount election board or the election board for a special election conducts its business or, in the case of county canvass observers, in which the county canvass is conducted; provided that each political party, candidate or election-related organization shall have no more than:

(a) two persons present at any given time in counties with more than ten thousand registered voters;

(b) four persons present at any given time in counties with more than fifty thousand registered voters; or

(c) fifteen persons present at any given time in counties with more than one hundred fifty thousand registered voters.

B. Subject to permission granted by the county clerk, additional challengers may be present in the room in which the absent voter election board, the recount election board or the election board for a special election conducts its business in a partisan election; provided that the number of additional challengers allowed pursuant to this subsection is identical for each political party participating in the election.

History: 1953 Comp., § 3-2-23, enacted by Laws 1969, ch. 240, § 44; 1975, ch. 255, § 24; 2011, ch. 137, § 23; 2019, ch. 212, § 31.

Cross references. — For disturbing polling place prohibited, see 1-20-20 NMSA 1978.

The 2019 amendment, effective April 3, 2019, changed the name of "precinct board" to "election board", permitted challengers, watchers and county canvass observers to be in the room in which a recount election board or an election board for a special election conducts its business, and changed which counties are entitled to have up to fifteen challengers, watchers or county canvass observers; replaced "precinct board" with "election board" throughout the section; in Subsection A, in Paragraph A(6), in the introductory clause, after "absent voter election board,", added "the recount election board or the election board for a special election", and in Subparagraph A(6)(c), after "more than", deleted "two" and added "one"; and in Subsection B, after "voter election board,", added "the recount election board or the election board for a special election", and after "conduct its business", added "in a partisan election".

The 2011 amendment, effective July 1, 2011, prohibited challengers, watchers and county canvass observers from handling the voter checklist, tallying ballots or the county canvass, from viewing voters' dates of birth and social security numbers, and from interfering with the election, the counting or tallying of ballots or the county canvass; permitted challengers, watchers and county canvass observers to be present when the voting is being conducted and when the absent voter precinct board conducts business, subject to certain specified restrictions; and permitted county clerks to allow additional challengers to be present when the absent voter precinct board conducts business.