2017 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 3 - Municipalities
Article 8 - Municipal Elections
Section 3-8-29 - Regular municipal election; ballots.

3-8-29. Regular municipal election; ballots.

A. At 5:01 p.m. on the fifty-fourth day preceding the election, in the presence of the certified candidates or their authorized representatives who desire to be present, the municipal clerk shall administer an impartial and fair drawing by lot to determine the order in which the candidates for each office shall be listed on the ballot. If a candidate or an authorized representative fails to appear, then the municipal clerk shall draw a lot for the absent candidate.

B. The ballot shall first set forth candidates running for executive office (mayor), if any; then candidates running for legislative office (councilors, trustees, commissioners), if any; and finally candidates running for judicial office (municipal judge), if any. For each office to be filled, the ballot shall contain:

(1) the office to be filled and its term;

(2) the names of the candidates running for office exactly as shown on the candidate's declaration of candidacy and in the order determined by the drawing by lot;

(3) a space for a qualified elector to write in the name of one declared write-in candidate, if any, per position to be filled; and

(4) any necessary reference to districts, positions or other similar official designations for office.

C. The only reference to a candidate for office to be placed on a ballot is the candidate's name as it appears on the candidate's declaration of candidacy. No ticket designations or party affiliations shall be shown on the ballot. Municipal elections shall be nonpartisan.

D. If it appears to the municipal clerk that the name of two or more candidates for any office are the same or so similar as to tend to confuse the voter as to the candidates' identities, the occupation and address of each such candidate shall be printed immediately under the candidate's name on the ballot.

E. The municipal clerk shall place on the ballot any question in the order designated by the governing body.

History: 1978 Comp., 3-8-29, enacted by Laws 1985, ch. 208, 37; 1987, ch. 323, 13; 1999, ch. 278, 6.