There’s been a lot of concern over the recent setbacks with the U.S. Postal Service and the upcoming 2020 election but according to the Secretary of State’s office, New Mexicans shouldn’t worry about voting by mail.
76 days and counting until the 2020 general election. The coronavirus pandemic created a record number of mail-in ballots during this year’s primaries and lawmakers expects a similar outcome this November. “It’s very clear we’re going to have more mail-ins than usual,” said Sen. Antoinette Sedillo-Lopez (D- Albuquerque).
Voters can still go to the polls and vote in-person the traditional way if they want to but if the state’s Secretary of Health believes COVID-19 cases are still a big threat, she could recommend guidelines like limiting the number of people inside the polls at once and social distancing at polling locations, just like what was recommended for in-person voting during the primary.
Some Democratic lawmakers are urging voters to look at other options that they have to cast their votes. “You can put them in the postal service, you can take them to the county clerk’s office,” said Sen. Daniel Ivey-Soto (D- Albuquerque). “When you hand them off to somebody you’ll get immediately asked, ‘are you a family member or caregiver to the voter?’”
This year, county clerks can automatically send registered voters applications for an absentee ballot in the mail. Recently, there’s been national concerns about mail-in ballots being delayed and counted in time for the election but state officials said New Mexican’s shouldn’t worry about that.
“We have received a letter from the post office indicating the opposite in that they don’t see a concern related to our deadlines,” said a spokesperson. If you mail in your ballot this year, it will have an intelligence tracking ID on it so voters can see their ballot make its way from the post office to the clerk’s office.