2019 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 1 - Elections
Article 9 - Voting Machines
Section 1-9-5 - Requirement to use voting systems; sufficient check-in stations and voting booths.
A. Certified voting systems shall be used in all polling locations in all statewide elections.
B. The secretary of state shall provide to the county clerk of each county at least one optical scan tabulator for use in each polling location in the general and primary elections. At the request of a county clerk, the secretary of state shall provide additional optical scan tabulators for use in a polling place to accommodate the anticipated number of voters in that polling place and to preserve the secrecy of the ballot. The request shall be made no later than the first Monday in August of each odd-numbered year.
C. The secretary of state shall provide to the county clerk of each county a sufficient number of check-in stations for use in each polling location in the primary and general elections when electronic rosters or their equivalents are used. The number of check-in stations at a polling location shall be capable of accommodating the number of voters who appeared to vote in person on election day from the precincts represented in a consolidated precinct in the same election held four years earlier or the number of voters who actually voted in that polling location four years earlier, whichever is greater; provided that no polling location shall be provided fewer than two check-in stations. No later than the last Tuesday in June of each odd-numbered year, the secretary of state shall determine how many voters a check-in station can accommodate in a day and develop a formula so that a check-in station is in use no more than seventy-five percent of the time. No later than the first Monday in August of the odd-numbered year, the county clerk in each county shall provide to the secretary of state the number of check-in stations required per polling location based on the formula provided by the secretary of state. Nothing in this section prohibits the board of county commissioners from acquiring additional check-in stations for use in an election, in addition to those provided by the secretary of state.
D. The county clerk shall ensure that an adequate number of voting booths are provided to ensure that voters in each polling location may cast their ballots in secret.
History: 1953 Comp., § 3-9-6, enacted by Laws 1969, ch. 240, § 188; 1971, ch. 317, § 15; 1975, ch. 255, § 115; 1989, ch. 392, § 20; 1991, ch. 106, § 2; 1993, ch. 14, § 1; 2001, ch. 233, § 3; 2006, ch. 43, § 1; 2010, ch. 28, § 11; 2015, ch. 145, § 55.
ANNOTATIONSCross references. — For provision as to number of voters a polling place is to accommodate, see 1-3-1 NMSA 1978.
The 2015 amendment, effective July 1, 2015, provided that the secretary of state shall provide to the county clerk of each county at least one optical scan tabulator and a sufficient number of check-in stations for use in each polling location in the primary and general election when electronic rosters or their equivalents are used; in the catchline, added "sufficient check-in stations and voting booths"; in Subsection B, after "at least one", deleted "voting system" and added "optical scan tabulator", and after "in the general and primary elections.", added the remainder of the subsection; and added a new Subsection C and redesignated former Subsection C as Subsection D.
The 2010 amendment, effective March 3, 2010, in the catchline, after "Requirement to" deleted "Purchase and"; in Subsection A, at the beginning of the sentence, added "Certified" and after "used in all", deleted "precincts" and added "polling locations"; in Subsection B, after "The", added "secretary of state shall provide to the"; after "clerk of each county", deleted "shall provide" and added "at least"; after "voting system", deleted "in each precinct"; after "for use in", added "each polling location in"; and after "primary elections", deleted "when the total number of registered voters in that precinct amounted to fewer than six hundred at the close of registration"; in Subsection C, at the beginning of the sentence, deleted "At least one additional voting system shall be provided in such precinct for every six hundred registered voters in that precinct; provided that if the voting system used in the precinct is a paper ballot system" and after "booths are provided", deleted "in lieu of providing more electronic vote tabulators"; deleted former Subsection D, which provided for the acquisition of new or previously owned voting or electronic vote tabulating systems for use in elections for public office and that the acquisition of these systems may be in excess of the number provided in this section; deleted former Subsection E, which provided that except for intercounty acquisitions of equipment, a previously owned voting or electronic vote tabulating system shall have a warranty equal to the warranty required of a new voting or electronic system; and added "to ensure that voters in each polling location may cast their ballots in secret".
The 2006 amendment, effective May 17, 2006, provides in Subsection C that if the voting system is a paper ballot system, the county clerk shall provide an adequate number of voting booths.
The 2001 amendment, effective June 15, 2001, substituted "voting systems" for "voting machines" throughout the section; and substituted "six hundred" for "four hundred" in Subsections B and C.
The 1993 amendment, effective June 18, 1993, inserted "new or previously owned voting or" in the first sentence of Subsection D and added Subsection E.
The 1991 amendment, effective April 2, 1991, in Subsection B, substituted "county clerk" for "board of county commissioners" and deleted "according to the county clerk" following "four hundred".
Commissioners to provide machines based on number of preceding election ballots. — It is the duty of county commissioners to provide voting machines for use in primary elections, the number of required machines to be based on the total number of ballots cast in the precinct or voting division in the preceding general election. 1964 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 64-52 (opinion rendered under former law).
Section does not impliedly repeal polling place requirement to accommodate voters. — This section is determinative of the number of machines which the board of county commissioners must acquire for use at any general or special election, but does not repeal by implication the provisions of 1-3-1 NMSA 1978 limiting the number of voters which any polling place may be required to accommodate. 1962 Op. Att'y Gen. No. 62-34 (opinion rendered under former law).
Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — Voting machines, constitutionality of statutes providing for use of, 66 A.L.R. 855.
