NMSA 1-4-47. Driver's license voter registration; automatic voter registration

1-4-47. Driver's license voter registration; automatic voter registration and updates. A. Unless a person is automatically registered to vote pursuant to the automatic voter registration provisions of Subsections B through D of this section, when a person who is a qualified elector or qualified resident but not registered to vote in the state conducts a transaction to apply for or renew a driver's license, state-issued identification card, learner's permit or provisional license, the person shall be offered the opportunity to simultaneously register to vote. A person registering to vote pursuant to this subsection shall not be required to provide a second time any information that duplicates information required in the driver's license, state-issued identification card, learner's permit or provisional license portion of the transaction. B. A qualified elector or qualified resident who provides a document demonstrating United States citizenship in the course of conducting an in-person transaction to apply for or renew a driver's license, state-issued identification card, learner's permit or provisional license shall be confirmed in a database maintained by the motor vehicle division of the taxation and revenue department as satisfying the citizenship requirement for eligibility to vote. If the person is not already registered to vote based on an automated database check, the person shall be registered to vote and shall be informed that the person is being registered to vote and that the person will receive a notice from the county clerk providing additional information, including how to decline to be registered, and the person shall be offered the opportunity to designate affiliation with a qualified political party during the in-person transaction. Within seven days, the motor vehicle division of the taxation and revenue department shall electronically transmit to the secretary of state an electronic record containing the person's full name, full social security number, date of birth, driver's license or state-issued identification card number, residence address, mailing address if different from residence address, county of residence, citizenship status, an electronic image of the person's signature, any affiliation with a qualified political party and any other available information requested by the secretary of state. C. Upon receiving an electronic record pursuant to Subsection B of this section, the secretary of state shall forward the person's electronic record to the county clerk of the county in which the person resides. The county clerk shall accept and process the electronic record received as a certificate of registration pursuant to the provisions of Section 1-4-11 NMSA 1978. D. Upon receiving an electronic record pursuant to Subsection C of this section, the county clerk shall send to the person's mailing address, by nonforwardable mail, a notice that the person has been registered to vote. The notice shall include a postage prepaid and pre- addressed return card by which the person may decline to be registered to vote. The notice shall be prescribed by the secretary of state with conforming language depending on whether the person is a qualified elector or a qualified resident, and may be combined with a voter information document and shall include: (1) an explanation of the voter eligibility requirements, a statement of the penalties for registering to vote when a person is not eligible and a statement that if the person is not eligible to vote that the person should decline to register by returning the card; (2) a statement that: (a) if the person declines to register to vote, the fact that the person has declined registration will remain confidential and will be used only to process the declination and for reporting election administration statistics; and (b) if the person does not decline the registration, the office from which the person's electronic record was received will remain confidential and will be used only for reporting election administration statistics; (3) information on how a person may become a participant in the confidential substitute address program; (4) an opportunity for the person to designate affiliation with a qualified political party by returning the card; and (5) an opportunity for the person to request a mailed ballot for the next statewide election, on a form prescribed by the secretary of state, which shall serve as an application for a mailed ballot pursuant to Section 1-6-4 NMSA 1978. E. After a person returns the card described in Subsection D of this section: (1) if the person declines to be registered to vote by returning the card, the person's registration shall be canceled and the person shall be deemed to have not registered to vote. Information relating to a person declining to be registered to vote pursuant to this section shall not be used for any purpose other than to process the declination and for reporting election administration statistics; (2) if the person votes in an election after registration under this section and subsequently returns the card to decline the registration, the declination shall not be effective until after the election in which the person voted; and (3) if the person returns the card to designate affiliation with a qualified political party, the person's political party affiliation shall be effective pursuant to Section 1-4-8 NMSA 1978. F. If a person who is registered to vote in the state conducts a transaction to apply for or renew, update, correct or replace the person's driver's license, state-issued identification card, learner's permit or provisional license or files a notice of change of address and the information provided to the motor vehicle division of the taxation and revenue department indicates a different address or name from the person's existing certificate of registration, the motor vehicle division of the taxation and revenue department shall electronically transmit to the secretary of state an electronic record containing the person's full name, date of birth, driver's license or state-issued identification card number, residence address, mailing address if different from residence address, county of residence, an electronic image of the person's signature and any other available information requested by the secretary of state. The secretary of state shall issue standards for what is considered a different address. If the new address is in: (1) the same county, or the person's name has changed, the secretary of state shall send the information to the county clerk of the county where the person is registered and the county clerk shall process the change to the official list of eligible voters in accordance with the change of residence information provided; or (2) a different county, the secretary of state shall send the information to the county clerk of the county where the person's new address is located and the county clerk shall process the change of residence as a transferred registration into the county. G. Immediately at the conclusion of each in-person transaction to apply for or renew a driver's license or state-issued identification card, a person shall receive written notification by the motor vehicle division of the taxation and revenue department informing the person if a voter registration transaction was processed and, if so, providing information regarding any voter registration transaction delivered to the secretary of state by the motor vehicle division as a result of the application for or renewal of a driver's license or state-issued identification card. H. In carrying out the provisions of this section, a motor vehicle division employee or contractor shall not intentionally influence a registrant in the selection of political party, or independent status, by word or act. A motor vehicle division employee or contractor shall not reveal the existence of or the nature of a voter registration pursuant to this section to anyone other than a registration officer. I. Unless a person who is not a qualified elector or is ineligible to register to vote knowingly and willfully takes voluntary action to register to vote knowing that the person is not a qualified elector or is ineligible to register to vote, the transfer of an electronic record or the failure of a person to decline voter registration pursuant to this section shall not be considered a violation of Section 1-20-3 NMSA 1978. J. A person who is not a qualified elector or who is ineligible to vote but who becomes registered to vote under this section and votes or attempts to vote in an election held after the effective date of the person's registration commits false voting under Section 1-20-8 NMSA 1978 only if the person knowingly and willfully took voluntary action to register to vote with knowledge that the person is not a qualified elector or is ineligible to register or knowingly and willfully voted with knowledge that the person is not a qualified elector or is ineligible to vote. K. By January 1 following each general election, the secretary of state shall submit to the legislature and make publicly available a report on the implementation of this section. Excluding any personal identifying information, the report shall include: (1) the number of electronic records transmitted to the secretary of state by the motor vehicle division of the taxation and revenue department pursuant to this section; (2) the number of new voters statewide as a result of the automatic voter registration system; (3) the number of voters whose information was updated because of the automatic voter registration system, reported by the type of information updated; and (4) the number of people who declined to be registered to vote through the automatic voter registration system. L. The secretary of state shall adopt rules and coordinate as necessary with the motor vehicle division of the taxation and revenue department and other state agencies and Indian nations, tribes and pueblos designated pursuant to Section 1-4-47.1 NMSA 1978. History: 1978 Comp., § 1-4-47, enacted by Laws 1991, ch. 80, § 4; 1995, ch. 198, § 12; 2013, ch. 184, § 1; 2023, ch. 39, § 21; repealed and reenacted by Laws 2023, ch. 84, § 7.