NM launches automatic voter registration, two years after bill signed into law

SANTA FE — For the last 30-plus years, New Mexico residents have had the option to register to vote while getting a new driver’s license or updating their vehicle registration.

But the state is now automatically registering eligible residents to vote while they’re interacting with Motor Vehicle Division field offices statewide, under the latest Democratic-backed plan to expand voting access.

As of this week, nearly 17,000 state residents had been registered to vote or had their existing registrations updated since July 1, when the new automatic voter registration system took effect, according to state Taxation and Revenue Department data.

“This is a major step forward for voter access and election modernization in New Mexico,” said Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver, who added the system would make voter registration faster, more accurate and more secure.

But not all state policymakers are convinced.

Sen. James Townsend, R-Artesia, said he’s lost trust in the Secretary of State’s office after a dispute last year over mailers that were sent to more than 100,000 potentially eligible but unregistered voters in New Mexico.

“I think there’s much to be done to protect and sanctify the vote,” Townsend said, while expressing concern residents who are not legally eligible to vote could be registered under the new system.

The automatic voter registration stems from a 2023 state election bill approved by lawmakers — via a vote that broke down largely along party lines — and signed into law by Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham.

While some parts of the bill took effect quickly, implementation of the automatic voter registration provision was delayed to give state officials and county clerks ample time to prepare, said Lindsey Bachman, the director of legislative and executive affairs for the Secretary of State’s Office.

She said the Secretary of State’s Office worked with MVD officials for more than a year on getting the new system in place.

Under the new system, individuals who are not eligible to vote are automatically screened out from the vote registration system, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

That could be because they are not yet old enough to vote, are not United States citizens, or are not permanent New Mexico residents.

“Just because someone doesn’t meet the eligibility requirements for automatic voter registration does not mean they’re automatically not a citizen,” Bachman told the Journal.

Meanwhile, people who do not want to be registered to vote can still opt out, but only by returning a notice they receive in the mail from their local county clerk after the MVD transaction.

Eventually, automatic voter registration could also be expanded to other New Mexico state government offices or Native American tribal entities. But those offices would have to meet certain requirements in state law and also enter into a formal agreement with the Secretary of State’s office, Bachman said.

While specifics vary by state, a total of 23 states currently have some sort of automatic voter registration system in place, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.

But only nine states have “back-end” systems like New Mexico’s that allow residents to opt out post-transaction after receiving a mailer. Other states with such systems include Oregon, Nevada, Massachusetts and Washington.

New Mexico is approaching a key 2026 election cycle that will feature numerous statewide offices on the ballot, including governor, attorney general, land commissioner and secretary of state. All three of the state’s U.S. House seats will also be up for election next year, as will the U.S. Senate seat held by Ben Ray Luján, a Democrat.

While roughly 69% of the state’s registered voters cast a ballot in last year’s general election, turnout in some previous state elections has been much lower. In the 2022 primary election, for instance, about 25.5% of registered voters ended up voting.