Roosevelt officials discuss upcoming election

PORTALES — With COVID-19 disrupting normal life as much as it has, people might need a reminder that elections are continuing through the crisis.

Though the New Mexico primary elections are June 2, early voting began Tuesday morning and was a topic of discussion at Tuesday’s regular Roosevelt County Commission meeting, the second in a row held remotely.

“Early voting started today (Tuesday) at 8 o’clock (a.m.),” said Stephanie Hicks of the Roosevelt County clerk’s office. “It’ll run ... through Saturday, May the 30th, in our office from 8 to 5.”

Hicks said an alternate early-voting site will open May 16 at the Jake Lopez Building.

Hicks said New Mexico’s secretary of state mailed absentee ballot applications to all eligible voters and is encouraging those who choose to vote that way return the applications so they can receive ballots.

“They can mail them in postage paid, they can drop them in the drop box on the corner of the outside of the building,” Hicks said.

“We were worried about getting enough poll workers to work through this COVID crisis,” Hicks continued, “but apparently they all seem to want to work. So I’ve had a good turnout for those. … We’ve made physical phone calls to all of them; they all said yes but one, so I anticipate a good return on that.”

Hicks said she is looking for four additional people to work on Election Day, June 2, cleaning the voting equipment as it’s being used, and “kind of monitoring the social distancing.”

In other business:

• Commissioners approved the Fiscal Year 2021 Preliminary Organizational Charts. County Manager Amber Hamilton emphasized they are “preliminary.”

“There may need to be further reductions,” she said. “We may have to come back and make further tough decisions.”

• The County Valuation Protest Board was approved for another two years.

• An intergovernmental agreement between Lea and Roosevelt Counties for the housing of juvenile detainees was approved. It runs for four years.

• The Century Link building entry agreement for fiber upgrades for the courts was approved.

• Preliminary local government road fund awards for the New Mexico Department of Transportation was ratified.

The commissioners’ next regular meeting will be 9 a.m. May 26.

Because of COVID-19, it was undetermined as of Tuesday whether the meeting will be remote again or at its regular location —the Roosevelt County Courthouse County Commission Room at 109 W. First St. in Portales.