As used in the Election Code [Chapter 1 NMSA 1978]:

A. "major political party" means any qualified political party, any of whose candidates received as many as five percent of the total number of votes cast at the last preceding general election for the office of governor or president of the United States, as the case may be, and whose membership totals not less than one-third of one percent of the statewide registered voter file on the day of the governor's primary election proclamation; and

B. "minor political party" means any qualified political party that is not qualified as a major political party pursuant to Subsection A of this section.

History: 1953 Comp., § 3-1-8, enacted by Laws 1969, ch. 240, § 8; 1975, ch. 255, § 3; 1983, ch. 258, § 1; 1995, ch. 124, § 1; 1978 Comp., § 1-1-9, recompiled and amended as § 1-7-7 by Laws 2011, ch. 137, § 48.

The 2011 amendment, effective July 1, 2011, modified the definition of "minor political party" by eliminating the requirement that candidates of the party receive not more than five percent of the votes cast in the preceding general election for the office of governor or president of the United States.

The 1995 amendment, effective January 1, 1996, inserted the language beginning "and whose membership" and ending "election proclamation" in Subsection A.

Minimum vote requirement for major party. — To satisfy the minimum vote requirement for recognition as a major political party, at least one candidate of the qualified political party, irrespective of office sought, must have received at least five percent of the total votes cast at the last preceding general election for the office of governor or U.S. president, whichever election is applicable. Additionally, Subsection A requires that the political party must satisfy a minimum membership requirement of at least one-third of one percent of the statewide registered voter file on the day of the primary election proclamation. 1996 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 96-01.

Maintaining major party status. — To maintain recognition as a major political party in an upcoming general election, a political party must satisfy the same requirements necessary for initial recognition as a major political party. The party must: 1) have run at least one candidate in one of the last two general elections, with its candidate for governor or U.S. president, if any, having received the statutorily prescribed minimum number of votes, 2) have a candidate who received, in the last preceding general election, the minimum number of votes required, and 3) have in its membership on the day of the primary election proclamation registered voters sufficient to satisfy the minimum membership requirement. 1996 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 96-01.

Candidate for governor or president not required. — The intent of the Election Code is to permit qualified political parties to run candidates for governor or U.S. president, but not to mandate that they do so. Accordingly, Subsection A does not require a major political party to run a candidate for governor or U.S. president in each general election in which the office is to be filled. 1996 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 96-01.