A. The proper filing officer shall determine whether a candidate filing a declaration of candidacy is registered to vote within the area to be elected to represent and, if required for the office being sought, whether the candidate's nominating petition for that office has been filed with a number of signatures that is equal to or greater than the number required for that office. If the candidate is so qualified and no withdrawal of candidacy has been filed as provided in the Local Election Act, the proper filing officer shall place the candidate's name on the ballot for the position specified in the declaration of candidacy and notify each candidate in writing no later than 5:00 p.m. on the sixtieth day before the local election.

B. Any voter may challenge the candidacy of any person seeking election at the regular local election for the reason that the person does not meet the requirements for the office sought by filing a petition in the district court within seven days after the day for filing a declaration of candidacy. The district court shall hear and render a decision on the matter within ten days after the filing of the petition. The decision of the district court may be appealed to the supreme court within five days after the decision is rendered. The supreme court shall hear and render a decision on the appeal forthwith.

C. Ballots for the regular local election shall be prepared by the proper filing officer and printed in accordance with the provisions of Section 1-10-5 NMSA 1978.

D. The printed ballot shall contain the name of each person who is a candidate and the position for which the person is a candidate.

E. The ballot shall also contain all ballot questions that are to be submitted to the voters as certified by a local governing body to the county clerk in each county in which the local government is situate and shall conform to the requirements for ballot questions on the regular local election ballot as provided in Chapter 1, Article 16 NMSA 1978.

History: 1978 Comp., § 1-22-10, enacted by Laws 1985, ch. 168, § 12; 1993, ch. 4, § 1; 2009, ch. 150, § 35; repealed and reenacted by Laws 2018, ch. 79, § 24; 2019, ch. 212, § 150.

Repeals and reenactments. — Laws 2018, ch. 79, § 24 repealed 1-22-10 NMSA 1978 and enacted a new section effective July 1, 2018.

Cross references. — For the federal Voting Rights Acts of 1965, see 42 U.S.C. § 1973 et seq.

The 2019 amendment, effective April 3, 2019, revised the provisions related to challenging a candidate's qualifications; in the section heading, added "Candidate qualification; challenges"; added a new Subsection B and redesignated former Subsection B as Subsection C; in Subsection E, after "ballot questions", deleted "permitted by the board of county commissioners pursuant to Section 1-22-10.1 NMSA 1978", and after "conform to the requirements", deleted "of Section 1-16-8 NMSA 1978" and added "for ballot questions on the regular local election ballot as provided in Chapter 1, Article 16 NMSA 1978"; and deleted former Subsections C through E.

The 2009 amendment, effective June 19, 2009, in Subsection C, after "Paper ballots", deleted "and ballot labels"; in Subsection G, after "paper ballots may be", deleted "used" and added "hand counted" and after "in lieu of", added "using"; and after "voting machine", added "to tabulate ballots"; and deleted former Paragraph (3) of Subsection G, which provided that paper ballots may be used for emergency ballots in case of a voting machine malfunction and added "the Election Code".

The 1993 amendment, effective January 29, 1993, in Subsection (G), inserted the paragraph designations "(1)" and "(3)", inserted paragraph (2), and made minor stylistic changes.