A. The county clerk shall mark on each completed official mailing envelope the date and time of receipt in the clerk's office, record this information in the absentee or mailed ballot register and safely keep the official mailing envelope unopened in a locked and number-sealed ballot box until it is delivered to the proper election board, counted in the county canvass or canceled and destroyed in accordance with law.

B. In a statewide election, if the unopened official mailing envelope is received by the county clerk from an election board before the absent voter election board has adjourned, the unopened official mailing envelope shall be logged and transmitted to the absent voter election board to be tallied immediately. If the unopened official mailing envelope is received by the county clerk from an election board after the absent voter election board has adjourned, the unopened official mailing envelope shall be logged and transmitted to be tallied and included in the canvass report of that county for the appropriate precinct.

C. Completed official mailing envelopes shall be accepted until 7:00 p.m. on election day.

D. Any completed official mailing envelope received after that time shall not be qualified or opened but shall be preserved by the county clerk for the applicable retention period provided in Section 1-12-69 NMSA 1978. The county clerk shall report the number of late ballots from voters, uniformed-service voters and overseas voters and report the number from each category to date on the final absentee ballot report and as part of the county canvass report. If additional late ballots are received, the county clerk shall update the number of late ballots from each category to the secretary of state.

History: 1953 Comp., § 3-6-10, enacted by Laws 1969, ch. 240, § 136; 1975, ch. 255, § 88; 1981, ch. 150, § 4; 1983, ch. 232, § 4; 1989, ch. 392, § 13; 1999, ch. 267, § 14; 2005, ch. 270, § 48; 2007, ch. 336, § 10; 2011, ch. 137, § 44; 2015, ch. 145, § 48; 2019, ch. 212, § 71.

Cross references. — For absentee ballot register, see 1-6-6 NMSA 1978.

For handling of absentee ballots by absent voter precinct boards, see 1-6-14 NMSA 1978.

The 2019 amendment, effective April 3, 2019, changed "absentee ballots" to "mailed ballots", changed "precinct board" to "election board", and revised the procedure for receiving mailed ballots; in the section heading, deleted "absentee" and added "mailed"; in Subsection A, after "delivered to the", deleted "absent voter precinct" and added "proper election", after "board,", added "counted in the county canvass", after "or", deleted "until it is"; added a new Subsection B and redesignated former Subsection B as Subsection C; in Subsection D, after "shall not be", deleted "delivered to the absent voter precinct board" and added "qualified or opened", after "preserved by the county clerk", deleted "until the time for election contests has expired. In the absence of a restraining order after expiration of the time for election contests, the county clerk shall destroy all late official mailing envelopes without opening or permitting the contest to be examined, cast, counted or canvassed. Before their destruction" and added "for the applicable retention period provided in Section 1-12-69 NMSA 1978", after "The county clerk shall", deleted "count" and added "report", and after "each category", added "to date on the final absentee ballot report and as part of the county canvass report. If additional late ballots are received, the county clerk shall update the number of late ballots from each category"; and deleted former Subsection C, which related to the county clerk recording the number of unused ballots and the destruction of those ballots.

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, removed the reference to "federal qualified electors" and added "uniformed-service voters" in the provision that requires the county clerk to count and report the number of late ballots from these voters; and in Subsection B, after "the numbers of late ballots from voters", added "uniformed-service voters and", and after "overseas voters", deleted "and federal qualified electors".

The 2011 amendment, effective July 1, 2011, eliminated the requirement that county clerks or absent voter precinct boards accept mailing envelops from precincts and required county clerks to prepare unused ballots for delivery to precinct boards as an alternative to destroying the ballots.

The 2007 amendment, effective April 2, 2007, authorized the county clerk to accept completed official mailing envelopes from precincts within the county.

The 2005 amendment, effective July 1, 2005, in Subsection A, deleted the former reference to the exception in Section 1-6-14(H) NMSA 1978 and the former reference to the delivery of the ballot box on election day to the precinct board; and in Subsection B, provided that the absent voter precinct board shall accept envelopes from precincts within the county of the voters who turned in their absentee ballots at their precinct by the close of polls on election day.

The 1999 amendment, effective June 18, 1999, substituted "and number-sealed ballot box, except as provided in Subsection H of Section 1-6-14 NMSA 1978, until it is delivered on election day to the proper absent voter precinct board" for "ballot box until it is delivered on election day to the proper precinct board" in Subsection A.