2016 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 1 - Elections
Article 6 - Absentee Voting
Section 1-6-10 - Receipt of absentee ballots by clerk.
1-6-10. Receipt of absentee ballots by clerk.
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 ballot register and safely keep the official mailing envelope unopened in a locked and number-sealed ballot box until it is delivered to the absent voter precinct board or until it is canceled and destroyed in accordance with law.
B. Completed official mailing envelopes shall be accepted until 7:00 p.m. on election day. Any completed official mailing envelope received after that time shall not be delivered to the absent voter precinct board but shall be preserved by the county clerk 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 contents to be examined, cast, counted or canvassed. Before their destruction, the county clerk shall count the numbers of late ballots from voters, uniformed-service voters and overseas voters and report the number from each category to the secretary of state.
C. No later than 5:00 p.m. on the Monday immediately preceding the date of election, the county clerk shall record the numbers of unused ballots and shall publicly destroy in the county clerk's office all such unused ballots or prepare the unused ballots for delivery to precinct boards. The county clerk shall execute a certificate of destruction, which shall include the numbers on the ballots destroyed. A copy of the certificate of destruction shall be sent 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.
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