Just over 20% of registered New Mexico voters turned out for the 2023 local elections, about 5,000 more people than participated in the 2021 local elections.
County clerks say in general though, voter turnout for local elections has increased. They cited a law passed in 2019 to consolidate school board and municipal elections into a single Election Day in November as the primary driver of the boost.
In Santa Fe County, same-day registration had a significant impact, said Katharine E. Clark, Santa Fe County clerk.
The county saw 617 voters using same-day registration, with 401 occurring on Election Day, as well as 831 first-time voters. These first-time voters had a registration post-2022 General Election and participated in this election with no prior voter history, she said.
The county commissioners unanimously approved the election results last week.
Likewise, Torrance County Commissioners unanimously approved the election results last week, including the write-in victories of Michelle Archuleta as municipal judge in Mountainair and
This year, many counties saw better turnout, including Doña Ana County, which rose from 11% turnout in the 2021 to 18% this election with 22,458 people casting a ballot.
“Frankly, 18% is not necessarily anything we should be satisfied with. However, I am pleased that there was more turnout than in 2021,” said Amanda López Askin, Doña Ana County clerk.
She said the county did more outreach by sending a notification to all registered voters to remind them of the election in the county.
“One of the largest barriers is that people think that the election doesn’t involve them if they don’t live in city limits,” she said. “Our biggest challenge is educating voters that every November — like clockwork — there is an election in their community.”
Other significant jumps included Colfax County, which had 42% turnout, with 3,224 voters casting a ballot – more than double the participation in 2021.
A school bond question galvanized local voters, said Rayetta Trujillo, Colfax County clerk.
“It was great to see the numbers as high as they were, because to me, every election is important, not just the primary or the general, but anytime you have an opportunity to vote,” Trujillo said.
Bernalillo County, however, had fewer participants and registered voters than the 2021 election. Only 82,455 voters, about 21% of registered voters, cast a ballot this year.
The local elections two years ago included the Albuquerque mayoral race, which is often a bigger draw for voters, said Nathan Jaramillo, the elections administrator at the county.
“It’s just simply the fact that there was not a large, contentious race in Bernalillo County this year,” he said.
This story originally ran at sourncenm.com.