By Susan Kelly, Ward Chair 15A; Deb Potter, member State Central Committee, Precinct 220 Chair; Mary Lebeck, Democrat, member Indivisible 505
In talking to voters and friends, we have heard people say that although they requested an absentee ballot, they are nervous about it and now plan to vote in person.
We believe if you have requested an absentee ballot, it is safest and best to use it. Clerks and poll workers will be busy during the election season. The additional steps to negate an absentee ballot in favor of vote-in-person will be challenging if lots of people go that route. As of last week, across the state, 344,426 voters had requested absentee ballots — far too many to change their voting method at this date.
Another thing to keep in mind: The ballot is long. Besides standing in line, in-person voting itself may take a while – lots of circles to fill in!
Stay the absentee course:
- Your ballot should arrive soon if it hasn’t already. Keep a special look-out for it and put it in a safe place. Read and follow the instructions carefully.
- ASAP (and definitely before 10/27 if using the USPS), mail your ballot or drop it off at a polling location or designated drop box.
In Bernalillo County, absentee ballots will be pre-processed in the days leading up to November 3. That means, rather than causing delays, they’ll be ready for tabulation along with the in-person votes cast on Election Day. We will get results quickly.
It is important that Trump’s lies about absentee voting should not be given credence, especially in NM. We have ballot tracking and we were NOT one of the 46 states identified by USPS that have a problem with delivering ballots on time. Plus our Legislature in SB-4 (June 2020) required that notification of any rejected ballots be processed within one day, and the voter provided with the means to fix the ballot problem.
Vote absentee and be safe, New Mexico!