Student Voting Project | New Mexico

Voting at School

ID Requirements

There are two ID requirements in New Mexico, one for first-time voters who register by mail, and one for all voters. First time voters who register by mail must show ID either when they submit their registrations, or when they arrive at the polls, or when they mail in their absentee ballot. Acceptable forms of ID include: a current and valid photo ID, a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, student ID card or other government document, including identification issued by an Indian nation or tribe, that shows your name and address. Student IDs will be accepted, as will any bill with your address on it, including cell phone bills and online printouts. If you don't have this ID at the polls, you'll have to vote a provisional ballot, which will only be counted if you return and present ID to the county clerk before the polls close.

All other voters are asked to show one of the following kinds of ID: any current photo ID or a utility bill, government check, paycheck, student ID, bank statement or other government ID (including ID from an Indian tribe), which shows your name and address (but the address does not have to match your voting address). If you can't show one of those forms of ID, you can also make a written or verbal statement of your name, date of birth, and registration address, and you'll allowed to vote normally.

Registration Requirements

Residency Requirements

If you spend most of your time at school in New Mexico, are involved in your school community, and intend to make it your voting residence, then you should be able to establish voting residency under New Mexico law. The state's election laws define a voter's residence as "that place in which his habitation is fixed, and to which, whenever he is absent, he has the intention to return." New Mexico recognizes that you might have more than one residence, but says you can only have one residence where it's proper for you to vote. When choosing between two residences, New Mexico courts require "significant physical presence," but the courts have also looked at a person's intent to make a place their voting residences and their interaction with and commitment to their communities. The intent to return to your New Mexico voting residence must be a definite one, but the courts have said that you do not have to be a permanent intention to make a place your home.

The Attorney General has specifically recognized that students "have the right to register and vote in the community where they attend school," even if you leave the state for the summer. New Mexico's definition of residence includes a prohibition on someone voting who is in the state for "temporary purposes only," but the AG has said that this cannot be used to bar students from voting at their colleges. The AG also notes that even students who do not have definite plans after graduation should be allowed to register to vote in the state. The AG provides a list of factors that registrars could use to determine students' voting residency, including: where your car is registered, where you filed your taxes from, the address on your drivers' license, where you keep your things and whether you are willing to take an oath to swear that you are a resident.

Students who lived in New Mexico before moving elsewhere to attend school, and who wish to establish or keep their New Mexcio voting residency (i.e., at their parents' New Mexico address), should have no problem doing so unless they've already registered to vote in another state. Like all states, New Mexico allows students to keep their voting residency even if they move out of the district to attend school, and the only way you might lose this residency is by establishing residency in a new state. While registering to vote in another state is not automatically considered abandonment of residency in New Mexico, some judges or officials might view it as such. Actually voting in another state is considered an abandonment of New Mexico residency under state law , and students who have voted in other states will have to re-establish New Mexico residency if they wish to vote there.

Challenges to Residency

If your registration is refused by the county clerk on the basis of residency, you may bring an appeal to the district court within 30 days. You may appeal the decision of that court to the court of appeals and to the state's Supreme Court. Your registration can also be challenged on the basis of residency at least 42 days prior to the election by the Secretary of State, the county chairman of a major political party or any twenty voters of your county. They have to file the petition in court, and a hearing will be scheduled within five to ten days; the court will hear evidence and can order your registration cancelled.

Your residency can be challenged at the polls by a poll worker or a partisan challenger. The elections judges will then vote on the challenge; unless they all agree you're ineligible, you'll be allowed to vote a regular ballot. If they do unanimously agree you're ineligible, you won't be allowed to cast a valid ballot.

Absentee Requirement

New Mexico is a no-fault absentee voting state—you do not need to give a reason for voting absentee. If you are a first time voter and you did not submit a copy of your identification with your registration form, you must submit it with your absentee ballot. Your application must be received by the Friday before the election (four days before Election Day if it is held on a Tuesday). Your ballot must be received by the county clerk by 7 p.m. on Election Day. Neither your application nor your ballot need be witnessed.

Voting at Home

ID Requirements

There are two ID requirements in New Mexico, one for first-time voters who register by mail, and one for all voters. First time voters who register by mail must show ID either when they submit their registrations, or when they arrive at the polls, or when they mail in their absentee ballot. Acceptable forms of ID include: a current and valid photo ID, a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, student ID card or other government document, including identification issued by an Indian nation or tribe, that shows your name and address. Student IDs will be accepted, as will any bill with your address on it, including cell phone bills and online printouts. If you don't have this ID at the polls, you'll have to vote a provisional ballot, which will only be counted if you return and present ID to the county clerk before the polls close.

All other voters are asked to show one of the following kinds of ID: any current photo ID or a utility bill, government check, paycheck, student ID, bank statement or other government ID (including ID from an Indian tribe), which shows your name and address (but the address does not have to match your voting address). If you can't show one of those forms of ID, you can also make a written or verbal statement of your name, date of birth, and registration address, and you'll allowed to vote normally.

Registration Requirements

Your registration form must be postmarked or received by 28 days before the election.

Residency Requirements

If you spend most of your time at school in New Mexico, are involved in your school community, and intend to make it your voting residence, then you should be able to establish voting residency under New Mexico law. The state's election laws define a voter's residence as "that place in which his habitation is fixed, and to which, whenever he is absent, he has the intention to return." New Mexico recognizes that you might have more than one residence, but says you can only have one residence where it's proper for you to vote. When choosing between two residences, New Mexico courts require "significant physical presence," but the courts have also looked at a person's intent to make a place their voting residences and their interaction with and commitment to their communities. The intent to return to your New Mexico voting residence must be a definite one, but the courts have said that you do not have to be a permanent intention to make a place your home.

The Attorney General has specifically recognized that students "have the right to register and vote in the community where they attend school," even if you leave the state for the summer. New Mexico's definition of residence includes a prohibition on someone voting who is in the state for "temporary purposes only," but the AG has said that this cannot be used to bar students from voting at their colleges. The AG also notes that even students who do not have definite plans after graduation should be allowed to register to vote in the state. The AG provides a list of factors that registrars could use to determine students' voting residency, including: where your car is registered, where you filed your taxes from, the address on your drivers' license, where you keep your things and whether you are willing to take an oath to swear that you are a resident.

Students who lived in New Mexico before moving elsewhere to attend school, and who wish to establish or keep their New Mexcio voting residency (i.e., at their parents' New Mexico address), should have no problem doing so unless they've already registered to vote in another state. Like all states, New Mexico allows students to keep their voting residency even if they move out of the district to attend school, and the only way you might lose this residency is by establishing residency in a new state. While registering to vote in another state is not automatically considered abandonment of residency in New Mexico, some judges or officials might view it as such. Actually voting in another state is considered an abandonment of New Mexico residency under state law , and students who have voted in other states will have to re-establish New Mexico residency if they wish to vote there.

Challenges to Residency

If your registration is refused by the county clerk on the basis of residency, you may bring an appeal to the district court within 30 days. You may appeal the decision of that court to the court of appeals and to the state's Supreme Court. Your registration can also be challenged on the basis of residency at least 42 days prior to the election by the Secretary of State, the county chairman of a major political party or any twenty voters of your county. They have to file the petition in court, and a hearing will be scheduled within five to ten days; the court will hear evidence and can order your registration cancelled.

Your residency can be challenged at the polls by a poll worker or a partisan challenger. The elections judges will then vote on the challenge; unless they all agree you're ineligible, you'll be allowed to vote a regular ballot. If they do unanimously agree you're ineligible, you won't be allowed to cast a valid ballot.

Absentee Requirement

New Mexico is a no-fault absentee voting state—you do not need to give a reason for voting absentee. If you are a first time voter and you did not submit a copy of your identification with your registration form, you must submit it with your absentee ballot. Your application must be received by the Friday before the election (four days before Election Day if it is held on a Tuesday). Your ballot must be received by the county clerk by 7 p.m. on Election Day. Neither your application nor your ballot need be witnessed.

[1] N.M.S.A § 1-1-7(A).

[2] See, e.g., Apodaca v. Chavez, 109 N.M. 610 (N.M. 1990); State ex rel. Magee v. Williams, 57 N.M. 588, 592 (N.M. 1953).

[3] See, Apodaca v. Chavez, 109 N.M. 610 (N.M. 1990).

[4] Kiehne v. Atwood, 93 N.M. 657, 662 (N.M. 1979).

[5] Klutts v. Jones, 21 N.M. 720, 728 (N.M. 1916).

[6] 1971 Op. Att'y Gen. N.M. 181 (1971 N.M. AG LEXIS 875).

[7] N.M.S.A. § 1-1-7(G).

[8] 1971 Op. Att'y Gen. N.M. 181.

[9] 1971 Op. Att'y Gen. N.M. 181.

[10] N. M. S. A. § 1-1-7(H)

[11] N. M. S. A. §§ 1-4-21, 39-3-1.1(C) (2008).

[12] N. M. S. A. § 39-3-1.1 (2008).

[13] N. M. S. A. § 1-4-22.

[14] N. M. S. A. § 1-12-20 (2008).

[15] Id.

[16] N. M. S. A. § 1-12-22 (2008).

[17] N. M. S. A. § 1-4-8 (2008). .

[18] N. M. S. A. § 1-4-5.1.

[19] Interview with Manuel Vildasol, Office of the New Mexico Secretary of State (July 7, 2008).

[20] N. M. S. A. §§ 1-12-7.1, 1-12-8, 1-12-10; N.M. CODE R. § 1.10.22.8(H).

[21] N.M.S.A. § 1-12-7.1.

[22] N.M.S.A. § 1-1-24.

[23] N.M.S.A. § 1-6-3.

[24] N.M.S.A. § 1-6-5.

[25] Id.