Last day to vote early is today

Friday is the final day to vote early in the Santa Fe municipal election.

Registered city voters may cast early ballots at the City Clerk’s Office, beginning at 8 a.m., and at the Genoveva Chavez Community Center, starting at 9 a.m.

Both locations will close polls at 5 p.m., according to a city news release, which said 4,637 early votes had been cast through Wednesday. That represents 8.5 percent of the 54,152 registered city voters.

Friday also is the final day to request an absentee ballot from the City Clerk’s Office. A completed absentee ballot must be received by the clerk’s office by 7 p.m. Tuesday, which is election day.

On the ballot is the mayor’s race — between City Councilor Peter Ives, City Councilor Joseph Maestas, school board member Kate Noble, City Councilor Ron Trujillo and entrepreneur Alan Webber — and four City Council seats, three of which are contested races.

Polls will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday. The city will use 12 polling places, all of which are voting convenience centers — meaning any registered voter can cast a ballot at any location, no matter his or her precinct.

Those election day polling locations are:

Montezuma Lodge, 431 Paseo de Peralta

Gonzales Community School, 851 W. Alameda St.

Salazar Elementary School, 1231 Apache Ave.

Atalaya Elementary School, 721 Camino Cabra

St. John’s United Methodist Church, 1200 Old Pecos Trail

Christian Life Church, 121 Siringo Road

Nina Otero Community School, 5901 Herrera Drive

Sweeney Elementary School, 4100 S. Meadows Road

Southside Branch Library, 6599 Jaguar Drive

Nava Elementary School, 2655 Siringo Road

Kearny Elementary School, 901 Avenida de las Campanas

Genoveva Chavez Community Center, 3221 Rodeo Road

The city also announced bus rides will be free on election day.