2021 New Mexico Statutes
Chapter 1 - Elections
Article 6 - Absentee Voting
Section 1-6-4.3 - Third party agents collecting applications for mailed ballots.
A. A person or organization that is not part of a government agency and that collects applications for mailed ballots shall submit the applications to the appropriate office for filing within forty-eight hours of their completion or the next business day if the appropriate office is closed for that forty-eight-hour period.
B. A person who collects applications for mailed ballots and fails to submit a voter's completed application is guilty of a petty misdemeanor.
C. A person who intentionally alters another voter's completed application for a mailed ballot is guilty of a fourth degree felony.
History: Laws 2005, ch. 270, § 41; 2007, ch. 337, § 9; 2019, ch. 212, § 63.
ANNOTATIONSThe 2019 amendment, effective April 3, 2019, replaced "absentee ballots" with "mailed ballots", and provided duties for third party agents who collect applications for mailed ballots; and replaced "absentee ballot applications" with "applications for mailed ballots" throughout the section.
The 2007 amendment, effective July 1, 2007, eliminated the requirement that the secretary of state establish procedures to ensure that absentee ballot applications can be traced to the person and organization collecting the applications; provided that a person who collects absentee ballot applications and fails to submit a completed application is guilty of a petty misdemeanor; and added Subsection C.
