A. Upon receipt of a complete certificate of registration, if the certificate of registration is in proper form, the county clerk shall determine if the qualified elector applying for registration is already registered in the registration records of the county. If the qualified elector is not already registered in the county and if the certificate of registration is received within the time allowed by law for filing certificates of registration in the county clerk's office, the county clerk shall sign or stamp, in the space provided therefor on each copy of the certificate, the qualified elector's name and the date the certificate was accepted for filing in the county registration records. Voter information shall be handed or mailed immediately to the qualified elector and to no other person.

B. If the applicant's certificate of registration is rejected for any reason, the county clerk shall stamp or write the word "rejected" on the new certificate of registration and hand or mail it, if possible, to the applicant with an explanation of why the new certificate of registration was rejected and what remedial action, if any, the applicant must take to bring the registration up to date or into compliance with the Election Code.

C. The county clerk shall reject any certificate of registration that does not contain the qualified elector's name, address and date of birth, along with a signature or usual mark. If the qualified elector is a new voter, the county clerk shall reject any certificate of registration that does not contain the qualified elector's driver's license or state identification number issued by the motor vehicle division of the taxation and revenue department, social security number or last four digits of the qualified elector's social security number. The county clerk shall reject any certificate of registration in which the question regarding citizenship is not answered or is answered in the negative.

D. A social security number is required to finish processing a new voter registration in this state. If the certificate of registration does not contain a social security number, the county clerk shall ascertain the qualified elector's social security number from the qualified elector's previous certificate of registration, from the motor vehicle division of the taxation and revenue department or from the secretary of state.

E. If the county clerk rejects a certificate of registration because required information is not provided on the certificate or cannot ascertain the qualified elector's social security number, the county clerk shall indicate this on the qualified elector's certificate of registration and shall make the appropriate notation in the voter file, indicating that the voter may only vote on a provisional ballot. The provisional ballot shall be counted once the required information is provided or the voter's social security number is ascertained.

F. If the qualified elector does not register in person, has not previously voted in an election in New Mexico and does not provide the registration officer with the required documentary identification, the registration officer shall indicate this on the qualified elector's certificate of registration and the county clerk shall note this on the appropriate precinct signature roster.

History: 1953 Comp., § 3-4-9, enacted by Laws 1969, ch. 240, § 67; 1987, ch. 249, § 8; 1993, ch. 314, § 10; 1993, ch. 316, § 10; 1995, ch. 198, § 5; 2003, ch. 356, § 12; 2007, ch. 336, § 6; 2015, ch. 145, § 17; 2019, ch. 212, § 50.

The 2019 amendment, effective April 3, 2019, revised the duties of the county clerk upon receipt of certificates of registration; in Subsection B, after the subsection designation, deleted "If the qualified elector is already registered in the county as shown by the qualified elector's original certificate of registration currently on file in the county registration records, the county clerk shall not accept the new certificate of registration unless it is filed pursuant to Section 1-4-13, 1-4-15, 1-4-17 or 1-4-18 NMSA 1978"; in Subsection C, after "qualified elector's name, address", deleted "social security number", and after "usual mark.", added the next sentence; added new Subsections D and E and redesignated former Subsection D as Subsection F; and in Subsection F, after "register in person", deleted "indicates that the qualified elector".

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, authorized the county clerk to reject certain certificates of registration; in Subsection A, after "complete certificate of registration, if", added "the certificate of registration is"; and added a new Subsection C and redesignated the succeeding subsection accordingly.

The 2007 amendment, effective April 2, 2007, in Subsection A, eliminated the requirement that a "voter identification card" be mailed to qualified electors.

The 2003 amendment, effective July 1, 2003, added Subsection C.

The 1995 amendment, effective April 6, 1995, substituted "voter identification card" for "copy of the certificate of registration" in Subsection A , and substituted "Section" for "Sections" in Subsection B.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, in Subsection A, substituted "a complete certificate" for "the original and the voter's copy of the properly executed affidavit" in the first sentence, substituted "certificate" for "affidavit" throughout the second and third sentences, and made a minor stylistic change; in Subsection B, substituted "certificate" for "affidavit" throughout the subsection and inserted "unless it is filed pursuant to Sections 1-4-13, 1-4-15, 1-4-17 or 1-4-18 NMSA 1978. He".