A voter may vote absentee in all candidate contests and on all ballot questions as if the voter had appeared on the day of the election to vote in person at a polling location.

History: 1953 Comp., § 3-6-3, enacted by Laws 1969, ch. 240, § 129; 1975, ch. 255, § 84; 1977, ch. 269, § 2; 1981, ch. 150, § 1; 1987, ch. 327, § 7; 1989, ch. 392, § 10; 1993, ch. 19, § 1; 1993, ch. 21, § 1; 1999, ch. 267, § 5; 2015, ch. 145, § 42; 2019, ch. 212, § 61.

Cross references. — For persons not permitted to vote, see 1-12-7 NMSA 1978.

For constitutional provisions on the right to vote, see U.S. Const., amendments XIX and XXVI.

The 2019 amendment, effective April 3, 2019, rewrote the provision relating to absentee voting; in the section heading, deleted "ballot", and after "A voter may vote absentee", deleted "ballot for all candidates and on all questions appearing on the ballot as if the voter were able to cast the ballot in person" and added the remainder of the section.

The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, removed the provision relating to federal qualified electors registering for and voting by absentee ballot; deleted the subsection designation for Subsection A; at the beginning of the sentence, deleted "Any" and added "A", after "on the ballot as if", deleted "he" and added "the voter", after "able to cast", deleted "his" and added "the", and after "ballot in person", deleted "at his regular polling place on election day"; and deleted Subsection B.

The 1999 amendment, effective June 18, 1999, substituted the section heading for "Right to absentee ballot; right to vote", and substituted "as if he were able to cast his ballot in person at his regular polling place on election day" for "at his precinct poll as if he were able to cast his ballot in person at the precinct poll" in Subsection A.

The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, in Subsection A, deleted former Paragraphs (1) through (6), identifying persons eligible to vote by absentee ballot, and deleted "statewide" preceding "questions".

Compiler's notes. — The following annotations are from cases decided prior to the 1993 amendment, which eliminated requirements for voting by absentee ballot.

Obvious intent of absentee voting statutes is to enlarge the right of franchise to people who fall into the categories specifically set forth in the law, provided they have good reason to believe that they cannot be available at the polls on election day. Kiehne v. Atwood, 1979-NMSC-098, 93 N.M. 657, 604 P.2d 123.

Requirements of valid absentee ballot. — A qualified absentee voter must in good faith have a reasonable belief that he may be unable to vote in person on election day for one or more of the specific statutory reasons and must sign the proper affidavits under oath to prove his status; after he has done this, it is the burden of the one challenging his right to vote to come forward and prove that the ballot is illegal, either when the votes are counted or by election contest. Kiehne v. Atwood, 1979-NMSC-098, 93 N.M. 657, 604 P.2d 123.

Certain knowledge of absence not required. — To hold that the application for an absentee ballot must be made with certain knowledge that a voter cannot be present would place unreasonable constraints upon the right to vote and would be in contravention of the legislature's manifest intent to enlarge the voter franchise. Kiehne v. Atwood, 1979-NMSC-098, 93 N.M. 657, 604 P.2d 123.

Presence in county on election day by otherwise qualified absentee voter does not invalidate his vote. Kiehne v. Atwood, 1979-NMSC-098, 93 N.M. 657, 604 P.2d 123.

When absentee ballots counted in contested election. — In an election contest trial persons who alleged statutory reasons for applying for, and voting by, absentee ballot, such as health and business, and whose testimony shows reasonable grounds to sustain their good faith application should have their votes counted. Kiehne v. Atwood, 1979-NMSC-098, 93 N.M. 657, 604 P.2d 123.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 26 Am. Jur. 2d Elections § 359.

29 C.J.S. Elections § 210(3).