AI-assisted research summary: In an emergency, the secretary of state and county clerks must take steps to keep elections running safely and orderly, including contingency planning, notices, polling-place changes, and ballot-delivery updates.
1-12-43.1. Emergency elections procedures. A. Upon issuance of an executive order declaring a state of emergency or an executive order for an impending emergency, the secretary of state shall authorize county clerks in impacted counties to evaluate and develop emergency contingency plans to ensure maximum participation in the electoral process and to provide a safe and orderly procedure for impacted elections. B. A county clerk shall notify the secretary of state in writing of a natural disaster or other emergency impacting election operations. As soon as possible following the issuance of an executive order declaring an emergency: (1) the county clerk shall identify the number of polling places that are functional and the number of polling places that are no longer functional. If a polling place is destroyed, inaccessible or unsafe, the county clerk shall work with federal, state and local emergency management agencies to permit the orderly establishment of a new polling place. An alternate emergency location shall be designated by the county clerk and authorized by the secretary of state and shall meet the requirements for a voter convenience center pursuant to Section 1-3-4 NMSA 1978. The designation of a new polling location shall not require court approval. The secretary of state may authorize a county to loan a mobile voting unit to another county; (2) the county clerk shall notify the secretary of state in writing of any impact to mailed ballot delivery. The secretary of state may authorize the county clerk to transmit ballot and balloting materials by secured electronic transmission available to the county clerk to voters who have submitted an emergency mailed ballot request on a form prescribed by the secretary of state. Any delays, closures of secured monitored containers or additional changes affecting the ability of voters to receive or return a mailed ballot shall be posted as soon as practicable on the county clerk's website with information on how voters may participate in the election; (3) the county clerk shall publish in a newspaper of general circulation in the county and post to the county clerk's website the details of any changes to the voting process pursuant to this section, including any changes to voting times and locations; and (4) contingency plans involving the elimination or consolidation of a polling place or the establishment of an alternative voting or mobile voting unit within an Indian nation, tribe or pueblo shall occur pursuant to Section 1-21A-9 NMSA 1978. C. Nothing in this section shall be interpreted as extending or authorizing an extension of the time period for an election. History: Laws 2026, ch. 58, § 4.