Counties plan to install more ballot drop boxes

Ballot drop boxes are no stranger to elections, but the state is encouraging an increase in their presence this year out of concerns from the COVID-19 pandemic.

A statement from the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office is advising counties to consider installing ballot drop boxes as a compromise for voters who do not want to send their absentee ballot in via the postal service but also do not want to have in-person contact at their respective early voting sites. The boxes also give absentee voters an option to meet the 7 p.m. Nov. 3 deadline should they for some reason not mail the ballot back in time.

Curry County Clerk Annie Hogland said her office is still working with the state to solidify such plans.

“The ballot drop boxes will be here on site at the county (administrative complex),” Hogland said, “and then we will have one inside the early voting location at the Youth Recreation Building during early voting,” Hogland said.

The Roosevelt County Clerk’s office has purchased ballot drop boxes and expect to have them available at all registered voting places in Roosevelt County so long as they arrive on time.

The Secretary of State’s Office memo stipulated that the drop boxes should be under constant supervision of at least two county staffers or election officials. Ballots are to be removed daily, and the boxes should either be bolted down and immovable or transferred to a secure location when voting hours are over.

Alex Curtas, a spokesman for the Secretary of State’s Office, said Monday the office would reimburse counties for the cost of the drop boxes. The state has $6 million set aside in federal CARES Act money designated for protective equipment and voting publicity.

Hogland also said that while third parties may be sending out absentee ballot forms and recent legislation allows counties to automatically mail absentee ballot applications, Curry County will only send them out upon request. Clerk’s offices can begin mailing out absentee ballot on Oct. 6, the first day for absentee and early in-person voting. The last day to request an absentee ballot for the upcoming general election is Oct. 20.

Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver announced in August that voters can request an absentee ballot at nmvote.org, and do not have to provide a reason for voting absentee.

During the June primary, more than 4,200 absentee ballots were cast in Curry and Roosevelt counties, nearly 10 times the amount in the 2016 primaries. So far, local clerk’s offices have reported no significant increase in absentee ballot requests compared to 2016, but voters still have a month left to request ballots.