Nonprofit sent ballot applications to 400,000 residents

N.M. Secretary of State’s Office confirms forms from D.C. group are legitimate

New Mexico’s most populous counties will automatically send out absentee ballot applications to registered voters ahead of the November election, but they won’t be the only ones.

More than a month before counties begin sending applications, a nonprofit called the Center for Voter Information has already mailed them to nearly 400,000 people in New Mexico in just the past week.

One week into its campaign, 7 percent of residents who received the letters — or around 29,000 people — have already sent in applications to request a ballot, the Washington, D.C.-based group said.

The effort comes as New Mexico officials, legislators and advocates have been encouraging people to vote by mail this fall so they avoid going to polling stations during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lawmakers approved a bill in June, later signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham, that streamlined the elections process to allow county clerks to automatically send mail-in ballots to registered voters without requiring people to request them.

The bill was proposed after county clerks were overwhelmed by the huge volume of absentee ballots they received for the June primary election, leading to long delays in tallying results in several areas of the state.

While some counties have chosen to opt out of the automatic mailing — which the legislation allows them to do — the nonprofit has sent ballot applications to residents across the state.

“Our belief is by bringing democracy into people’s homes we make it easier for people to participate in that democracy,” said Tom Lopach, CEO of the Center for Voter Information.

The nonprofit is targeting three groups of people — young people, unmarried women and people of color — and uses voter files to obtain people’s addresses, Lopach said.

One Santa Fe resident who received the mailings questioned whether they were legitimate.

But the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office said it was aware of the group’s mailings, confirmed they were

legitimate, and said it has worked with the nonprofit’s staff to ensure they’re sending out correct information and that their voter lists are accurate.

“The mailings themselves are not from the Santa Fe County Clerk or our office, but CVI is using the application form that voters can already download from our office,” Secretary of State’s Office spokesman Alex Curtas said when asked about applications that have been mailed to Santa Fe voters.

So far, 10 New Mexico counties have said they will automatically send absentee ballot applications to all voters, including the state’s four most populous — Bernalillo, Doña Ana, Santa Fe and Sandoval.

Rio Arriba, McKinley, Mora, Hidalgo and Luna counties have told the Secretary of State they will not automatically send applications, Curtas said.

The other eighteen had not yet informed the state of their plans as of Aug. 7, he said.

County clerks can begin sending ballot applications Sept. 14 and can send out the ballots Oct. 6.

One absentee application received by a Santa Fe resident was sent from an address on Guadalupe Street in Santa Fe and included a letter from the nonprofit, instructions and an application.

“Voting by mail keeps you healthy and safe,” reads the letter signed by the group’s managing director. “The best way to protect yourself, your family, and your whole community during this time is to vote by mail.”

The nonprofit, which also works on voter registration issues, says it is nonpartisan and states on its website that it aims to “provide even-handed and unbiased information about candidates and their positions on issues.”

The group was founded by Page Gardner, a Democratic strategist. Lopach is a political adviser who was chief of staff for Montana Gov. Steve Bullock, a Democrat.

Its partner organization is The Voter Participation Center, which also is led by Gardner and Lopach.