Most NM county clerk websites don鈥檛 mention semi-open primaries days before voting starts
Just days before early voting begins for New Mexico鈥檚 primary election, 20 of the state鈥檚 33 county clerks鈥� websites make no mention of a legislative change enabling independent voters to cast ballots in the upcoming primary election, according to a Source NM review.
The June 2 primary election 鈥� ones unaffiliated with a political party 鈥� don鈥檛 have to register with a major political party to cast ballots in those parties鈥� primary races to choose candidates for the general election ballot. In New Mexico, only the major parties, which are the Republican and Democratic parties, appear on primary ballots.
Early voting begins Tuesday, May 5.
The number of independent voters has grown in New Mexico in recent months. The increases have occurred in urban and rural areas in Democratic and Republican strongholds alike,
But advocates who pushed the Legislature to enact so-called semi-open primaries have said the biggest remaining challenge is educating independent voters about the change.
Jeremy Gruber, a senior vice president of Open Primaries, Inc., a national organization advocating for open primaries, noted in an email to Source NM that county clerks have a responsibility to inform voters about the latest election changes.
鈥淐ounty election sites are where many voters get their information,鈥� he said.
New Mexico Forward Party Chair Bob Perls, who advocated for the semi-open primaries, said county clerks are perpetrators of either 鈥渕alpractice鈥� or 鈥渕alfeasance鈥� for failing to update their websites despite months of notice. He said it鈥檚 another example of why county clerks should be elected on a nonpartisan basis.
鈥淲hat鈥檚 more important than letting 25% of voters know that they can vote?鈥� he told Source NM on Friday. 鈥淚f you haven鈥檛 planned that months ahead of time, then it鈥檚 negligent.鈥�
The 20 counties without semi-open primary information represent about one-third of New Mexico鈥檚 population, according to a Source NM review.
Of them, Sandoval County has the highest population, with slightly more than 150,000 people.
Sandoval County Deputy Clerk Joey Dominguez told Source NM on Friday that the office is finalizing a 鈥渢ab鈥� dedicated to semi-open primaries. He said errors on draft educational materials caused the delay.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a couple documents that had some errors that we are not able to release yet. But yes, great point,鈥� he said. 鈥淎nd we will add it definitely before Tuesday.鈥�
The rest of the counties without updated information lie largely in rural areas. Most of the sites contain links to the Secretary of State鈥檚 Office site, which has a page dedicated to semi-open primaries.
Colfax County鈥檚 page for 鈥溾�� appears not to have been updated for a decade. As of Friday, Quay County鈥檚 election page had been 鈥�.鈥� Officials from those counties did not respond to Source NM鈥檚 requests for comment Friday.
Gruber鈥檚 organization has been tracking New Mexico county clerks鈥� websites since April 5. On that date, 23 counties lacked information about semi-open primaries.
Lindsey Bachman, director of communications, legislative and executive affairs for the New Mexico Secretary of State鈥檚 Office, told Source NM Friday that county clerks are ultimately responsible for the information on their websites. She noted that the office has not received a formal complaint about the lack of information on county clerks鈥� websites, but would investigate if they did so.
She added that the Secretary of State鈥檚 Office is sending directly to independent voters.
鈥淲e have encouraged county clerks to review their websites to ensure they accurately reflect information regarding the transition to semi-open primary elections,鈥� she said in an email Friday. 鈥淎nd we have provided clerks鈥� offices with our office is using to communicate with the public about the change.鈥�
