News Release - Secretary of State mails notice to eligible voters

Election Officials contact almost 460,000 potential voters for

National Voter Registration Day

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE September 19, 2016	Contact:  Ken Ortiz Office of the Secretary of State (505) 827-3661

     New Mexico election officials are sending out postcards this week to 459,838 state residents who appear eligible to vote, but haven’t registered.  The postcard invites eligible voters to register online or by mail by the deadline of October 11 in order to vote in the upcoming General Election.

New Mexico residents are eligible to vote if they are at least 18, a U.S. citizen and not under custody of the Department of Corrections for a felony.  If a recipient of a postcard is not eligible to vote, they should not register.  Registering to vote if one is not eligible is a felony.

     “We hope these postcards will encourage eligible voters to go online and get registered in time to participate in the November 8 General Election,” said Secretary of State Brad Winter.

The postcard mailing, paid for by a grant from the Pew Charitable Trusts and county clerks across the state, was generated by information from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC), a non-profit organization of member states that helps improve the accuracy of voter registration lists and provides information on unregistered potential voters that states can contact.  New Mexico recently became the 20^th state to join ERIC in an effort to balance voter outreach with voter list maintenance.

     The announcement comes on the cusp of National Voter Registration Day, which is September 27.  National Voter Registration Day is an event designed to encourage civic participation and help educate Americans on the ways in which they can register to vote.

     It is possible for individuals already registered to vote to receive the outreach postcard if their driver’s license or state ID records do not match up exactly to an existing voter registration record.  The reasons for records not matching include clerical or handwriting errors, or if names and birthdates do not correlate between records.

     Recipients who believe they received the postcard in error are encouraged to check their voter record online at https://voterview.state.nm.us/.  Recipients who have further questions about their voter record may also call their local county clerk or the Secretary of State Elections Division at 1-800-477-3632.

     Registrants who simply need to update their voter registration information, such as their address or party, may also use the online voter registration system located at www.sos.state.nm.us.

     More information about voter registration and National Voter Registration Day is available at www.nationalvoterregistrationday.org. For more information regarding the upcoming General Election, visit the Secretary of State’s website at www.sos.state.nm.us.

(Sorry - can't attach picture of the card, because the blog does not like PDFs)