View Scorecard for Year
Responsive Gov’s Grade TL;DR
After passing substantial election legislation during the 2023 session, this past year, the New Mexico Legislature focused its attention on providing much-needed funding for election administration. The state also began implementation of the pro-voter reforms passed in 2023, and while some reforms were implemented successfully, the state took a burdensome approach to implementation of rights restoration. Considering New Mexico’s action on legislation and implementation this past year, the state received an A- on this year’s progress report.
Looking Back
Where New Mexico Started at the Beginning of 2024
- Automatic Voter Registration: Secure AVR
- Online Voter Registration: DMV ID
- Same-Day Registration: Yes
- Restoration of Rights: Prison Disenfranchisement
- Vote by Mail: No-Excuse
- Electronic Registration Information Center Member: Yes
- Early Voting Opportunities: Regular Ballot Early Voting
- ID Requirements: No Document Required
Relying on the Cost of Voting Index for New Mexico as of 2024, we considered the state a middle tier state for pre-existing voting policy and compared its 2024 activity against other middle tier states.
How Our Tier Compares
- COVI (2024): 21st
- EPI Score (2022): 1st
- CLC State Scorecard (2022): 7/10
- MAP Democracy Rating (2022): MEDIUM
2024: This Past Year
Legislative Action
This year the New Mexico Legislature came together to pass legislation to provide additional funds for state elections.
- SB 108 allocates $15 million for conducting and administering statewide elections.
- New Mexico’s secretary of state and Motor Vehicle Division teams worked diligently to prepare for the launch of an automatic voter registration system by July 2025. The state also implemented other critical pro-voter reforms, including a voluntary permanent absentee voter list, expanded early voting opportunities, and ensuring voting access for tribal communities.
- However, the state did experience some issues with implementation of rights restoration. In 2023 the state passed HB 4, which automatically restored the right to vote for returning citizens upon release from felony incarceration. Unfortunately, the state implemented the legislation in a way that created additional unnecessary burdens on individuals seeking to regain those rights, requiring them to register to vote only in-person and preventing them from registering to vote by mail, online, or through a registration drive. As part of an agreement with non-profits that raised the issue, the state agreed to revise its guidance and reprocess wrongly rejected voter registrations, among other things.