NMSA 1-22-8.1. Write-in candidates

1-22-8.1. Write-in candidates. A. Write-in candidates shall be permitted in regular local elections. B. A person may be a write-in candidate only if the person has the qualifications to be a candidate for the position for which the person is running. C. A person desiring to be a write-in candidate for an office shall file with the proper filing officer a declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate. The declaration shall be filed between 9:00 a.m. and 5:00 p.m. on the sixty-third day preceding the date of the election. D. The declaration of intent to be a write-in candidate shall be accompanied by a nominating petition containing the same number of signatures or the filing fee required of other candidates for the same office. E. A write-in candidate shall be considered a candidate for all purposes and provisions relating to candidates in the Local Election Act, except that the write-in candidate's name shall not be printed on the ballot nor posted in any polling place. History: 1978 Comp., § 1-22-8.1, enacted by Laws 2018, ch. 79, § 22; 2019, ch. 212, § 149; 2023, ch. 39, § 86.