Why choose to be disenfranchized?

Do you care who is the sheriff for the next four years? Or your county commissioner? Or your state house representative for the next two? These positions, and more, are on the primary ballot in contested races in June — and the winners will be unopposed in November. So the June 7 primary is the whole ballgame. And you, everyone, can vote in this primary, regardless of party preference.

Until very recently, New Mexico was a totally closed primary state. According to FairVote, “in a closed primary, only voters registered with a given party can vote in that party’s primary.” So in the June primaries, it used to be that folks who had registered as Decline to State (ie. no party preference) or Green or any party other than Republican, Democrat or Libertarian could not participate in choosing who would be on the November ballot.

In 2020, the New Mexico laws about voting in primaries were modified to allow more folks to participate. In 2020, regardless of party, voters could change their party affiliation for the purpose of voting in a primary, as long as they did so at least 28 days prior to that primary.

Now in 2022, that 28-day requirement is gone. Anyone can change their party to one of the major parties any time — including throughout all of early voting and even on election day itself. Then, they can request the ballot of that party they just chose.

Now that early voting has begun, a voter needs to make that change of party registration at any location where voting is taking place. From May 10-20, that’s at the County Clerk’s office (the only early voting location for a while). From May 21 on, through all of early voting, there are three additional sites: in Peñasco, Questa and El Prado. On election day itself, you can make the switch at any polling location. In all cases, there might be a slight delay to get your ballot while your registration application is processed. If you like, perhaps do the paperwork one day, and then return to vote another day.

Why would someone who chose to be in one party (or no party) change just to vote in a primary? Well, in many counties only one party fields candidates. When this happens, the primary winner in June is the only choice on the ballot in November. That’s the case this year in Taos County.

For several state and county positions, two or more Democrats are on the June primary ballot against each other. The winner will be without opposition in November. They are these positions: N.M. House of Representatives Districts 41 and 42; county commission Districts 1 and 5; county sheriff; county assessor; and probate judge. County commission District 2 is also on the ballot, but only one candidate is running, and so he will win for a four-year term.

At the state level, two Democrats are facing off for three different positions: state attorney general, state treasurer and state auditor. There will be candidates from other parties for all the statewide and federal positions (U.S. House of Representatives, governor, lieutenant governor, secretary of state, commissioner of public lands, attorney general and state treasurer). In the state auditor race, the primary winner will be unopposed in November.

So if you care about your local representation — at the Roundhouse or at the county level — switching parties in order to vote in the primary is how you get to be heard. Right after the election, you can switch back again to another party or no party, if that is your preference. Our aim is to have as many people participate and be heard as possible. Voting is the democratic thing to do.

Though the process of changing your registration is an extra step, we hope you see its value. We encourage you not to disenfranchise yourself when it’s so crucial who is elected to local and state government.