A. No less than one polling place shall be provided for each precinct that is not a mail ballot election precinct; provided that in a local election, a precinct that lies partly within and partly without a district may be located in a single polling place and use a single election board.

B. The board of county commissioners shall designate as the polling place or places, as the case may be, in each precinct, other than a mail ballot election precinct, the most convenient and suitable public building or public school building in the precinct that can be obtained.

C. If no public building or public school building is available, the board of county commissioners shall provide some other suitable place, which shall be the most convenient and appropriate place obtainable in the precinct, considering the purpose for which it is to be used pursuant to the Election Code.

D. If, in a precinct that is not a mail ballot election precinct or a consolidated precinct, there is no public building or public school building available in the precinct, and there is no other suitable place obtainable in the precinct, the board of county commissioners may designate as a polling place for the precinct the most convenient and suitable building or public school building nearest to that precinct that can be obtained. No polling place shall be designated outside the boundary of the precinct as provided in this subsection until such designated polling place is approved by written order of the district court of the county in which the precinct is located.

E. Upon application of the board of county commissioners, the governing board of any school district shall permit the use of any school building or a part thereof for registration purposes and the conduct of any election; provided that the building or the part used for the election complies with the standards set out in the federal Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act. Application for use of a school building or any part thereof for the conduct of a statewide election shall be made by delivering to the superintendent of the school district the resolution adopted pursuant to Section 1-3-2 NMSA 1978.

F. On the day of any statewide election for which application was made pursuant to Subsection E of this section, the board of education of a school district shall provide exclusive use of any school building or the part thereof to be used in the conduct of the election and shall provide sufficient parking for election officials and to permit voters to exercise the elective franchise.

History: 1953 Comp., § 3-3-8, enacted by Laws 1969, ch. 240, § 57; 1971, ch. 316, § 1; 1984 (1st S.S.), ch. 3, § 3; 1987, ch. 249, § 6; 1989, ch. 392, § 5; 1991 (1st S.S.), ch. 6, § 3; 2009, ch. 251, § 4; 2009, ch. 274, § 3; 2011, ch. 131, § 4; 2018, ch. 79, § 5; 2019, ch. 212, § 40.

Cross references. — For the federal Voting Accessibility for the Elderly and Handicapped Act, see 42 U.S.C. § 1973 et seq.

Temporary provisions. — Laws 2019, ch. 212, § 277 provided that polling places for the 2019 regular local election shall be the same polling places that were used in the 2018 general election, unless the board of county commissioners amends the 2017 polling place resolution no later than July 1, 2019.

The 2019 amendment, effective April 3, 2019, changed the name of "precinct board" to "election board", and required the board of education of a school district to provide the use of school buildings on election day for statewide elections; in Subsection A, after "single", deleted "precinct" and added "election"; in Subsection E, added the last sentence of the subsection; and in Subsection F, completely rewrote the subsection.

The 2018 amendment, effective July 1, 2018, provided that in certain precincts may have a single polling place in local elections; in Subsection A, added "provided that in a local election, a precinct that lies partly within and partly without a district may be located in a single polling place and use a single precinct board".

The 2011 amendment, effective July 1, 2011, in Subsection D, eliminated the authority of the board of county commissioners to designate buildings as polling places in consolidated precincts.

The 2009 amendment, effective July 1, 2009, in Subsection A, after "each precinct", added the remainder of the sentence; in Subsection B, after "each precinct", added "other than a mail ballot election precinct"; and in Subsection D, after "If", added "in a precinct that is not a mail ballot election precinct, there is".

The 1991 (1st S.S.) amendment, effective October 4, 1991, substituted "No less than" for "Except as provided in the Precinct Boundary Adjustment Act" at the beginning of Subsection A.

Polling place may be outside precinct. — Neither this section nor N.M. Const., art. VII, § 1 requires a voting machine or ballot box to be within the boundaries of a precinct as long as those casting their votes at the designated polling place are registered to vote in their precinct. Martinez v. Harris, 1984-NMSC-105, 102 N.M. 2, 690 P.2d 445.

Legislature did not intend using school buildings as polling places except upon approval. — The legislature did not intend that the institutional buildings of the New Mexico school for the visually handicapped be made available as voting sites for election purposes when the board of regents of such institution determines otherwise. While it is not mandatory that the board of regents of such institution provide a building for use in connection with the holding of elections within the precinct or election district, it should be noted, however, that buildings of such institution or a portion of such institution may, upon approval of the board of regents of the institution, be made available as an election site whenever the board of regents may grant such permission. However, the using of such property of the New Mexico school for the visually handicapped as an election polling place would be contingent upon the approval by the board of regents of the institution and their determination that such use would not endanger the lives and safety of the students of the school. 1961 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 61-130 (opinion rendered under former law).

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 26 Am. Jur. 2d Elections § 322.

29 C.J.S. Elections §§ 76, 78.