Election Day is upon us, and polls will open Tuesday starting at 7 a.m. and will close at 7 p.m.
With around 439,000 people either casting their ballot early or voting absentee in New Mexico, Secretary of State spokespersoelectionn Alex Curtas said those numbers are a tell-tale sign that lines will be long.
鈥淎 lot of people still wait and want to go on Election Day, and so we will see quite an influx of voters at Election Day polling locations,鈥� Curtas said.
Curtas recommends heading to the nearest polling location at an 鈥渙ff-time鈥� of day, not before or after work hours.
鈥淥ften, the county clerks can tell you which voting locations can in their counties are having smaller waits and smaller lines.鈥�
Voter intimidation is also on the minds of voters across the country, and Curtas is reminding folks to be vigilant of intimidation both big and small. He offers an example.
鈥淧eople kind of hanging around, taking pictures of you as you deposit your ballot into a drop box,鈥� Curtas said.
Although some of these acts might not get law enforcement involved directly, the Secretary of State鈥檚 office encourages anyone to to them or the Attorney General鈥檚 office.
has teamed up with the ACLU of New Mexico, the Native American Voters Alliance, the Black Voters Collaborative, Progress Now New Mexico, the Center for Civic Policy and Ol茅 New Mexico to monitor any polling problems. Volunteers will be at polling locations and there are two hotline numbers as well: 1-866-OUR-VOTE (866-687-8683) and for Spanish speakers 888-VE-Y-VOTA.
If you already mailed your absentee ballot and it hasn鈥檛 been delivered 鈥撯�� or if it has been rejected for some reason 鈥撯�� you can head to a polling location to vote in-person. You鈥檒l just need to sign an affidavit to void the ballot.
No matter how they鈥檙e returned, ballots must be received by 7 p.m. Tuesday to be counted. If you are in line by then, officials must allow you to vote.
Find polling places at the Secretary of State's .
