N.M. Admin. Code § 1.10.22.10

Current through Register Vol. 35, No. 20, October 22, 2024

Section 1.10.22.10 - TABULATION AND CANVASSING OF QUALIFIED PROVISIONAL BALLOT PROCEDURES

A. Qualified provisional ballots shall be counted for the reporting of votes by precinct and voting method for each candidate contest or ballot question, as specified in the Election Code, Section 1-12-70 NMSA 1978. Only the votes for those candidate contests or ballot questions for which the voter is eligible to vote shall be counted, as follows:

(1) A qualified mailed ballot, processed as a provisional ballot, in a provisional ballot envelope prescribed by the secretary of state because the first time voter did not provide the required form of physical identification prior to the ballot issuance, shall be hand tallied and recorded in the absentee provisional by hand tally counting group, or tabulated by a voting tabulator designated, programmed and certified for such specific use, and recorded in the absentee provisional by machine counting group.

(2) A qualified absentee replacement ballot, processed as a provisional ballot, in a provisional ballot envelope prescribed by the secretary of state because the absentee voter did not receive, or if received, did not vote the mailed ballot, shall be hand tallied and recorded in the absentee provisional by hand tally counting group, or tabulated by a voting tabulator designated, programmed and certified for such specific use, and recorded in the absentee provisional by machine counting group.

(3) A qualified provisional ballot issued during early voting in the office of the county clerk, alternate voting location or mobile alternate voting location shall be hand tallied and recorded in the early voting provisional by hand tally counting group, or tabulated by a voting tabulator designated, programmed and certified for such specific use, and recorded in the early voting provisional by machine counting group.

(4) A qualified provisional ballot issued on election day shall be hand tallied and recorded in the election day provisional by hand tally counting group, or tabulated by a voting tabulator designated, programmed and certified for such use, and recorded in the election day provisional by machine counting group.

(5) A qualified federal write-in absentee ballot shall be hand tallied and shall be counted and recorded in the federal overseas hand tally counting group.

(6) The hand tally of votes from qualified provisional ballots shall be conducted in accordance with 1.10.23 NMAC by a team of at least two persons. The team shall consist of one reader and one marker, not of the same political party, if possible. The reader shall read the ballot to the marker and the marker shall observe whether the reader has correctly read each vote from the ballot; the marker shall then mark the tally sheet of the precinct, voting method and voting location where the ballot was cast, and the reader shall observe whether the marker correctly marked the tally sheet. The hand tally team shall observe the following:

(a) Only the votes for the candidates or ballot questions from the precinct the voter is eligible to vote for shall be counted;

(b) Each ballot shall increase the ballots cast count by one;

(c) Only those contests receiving no more than the allotted selections for the number of candidates to be elected or ballot questions where there is one selection for either the affirmative or negative will be hand tallied on overvoted ballots;

(d) No votes for either candidate contests or ballot questions will be hand tallied for blank ballots;

(e) Only those candidate contests or ballot questions receiving a selection by the voter will be hand tallied on an undervoted ballot; and,

(f) Overvoted, blank or undervoted ballots cast by voters, after going through the above process shall be recorded as a "ballot cast" and proper voting credit shall be given on the respective voter registration record on file with the county clerk.

(7) When a voting tabulator is used for the counting and recording of qualified provisional ballots of voters who were issued a ballot for their correct voting precinct, a member of the county canvassing board shall feed the ballots into the voting tabulator.

(a) An overvoted or blank provisional ballot shall be accepted by the voting tabulator after it has been adjudicated by the county canvassing board. The ballot will be counted and recorded in the appropriate machine counting group, as detailed above.

(b) If a provisional ballot is misread after being fed into a voting tabulator, a county canvass board member shall feed it into the voting tabulator a second time. A provisional ballot that is rejected after two attempts shall be adjudicated by the county canvass board, hand tallied, counted and recorded in the appropriate hand tally counting group, as detailed above.

B. During the counting of qualified provisional ballots, the county clerk shall ensure that observers are not permitted to see the identity of any voter whose ballot is being tallied. If, in the instance of only one provisional ballot cast in an alternate voting location, mobile voting location or election day polling place, the observer may know the identity of the voter, but may not observe the tally of the ballot.

C. Upon the conclusion of the county canvass, the county clerk shall transmit the provisional ballot results to the office of the secretary of state in accordance with the Election Code, Subsection H of Section 1-12-25.4 NMSA 1978, and the county canvassing board shall direct the county clerk to prepare the required provisional ballot report.

D. If there is a discrepancy in the number of provisional ballots returned based on the number of provisional ballots issued, the county canvassing board shall follow the procedures set out in the Election Code, Section 1-13-1 to 1-13-22 NMSA 1978.

N.M. Admin. Code § 1.10.22.10

1.10.22.10 NMAC - Rp, 1.10.22.10 NMAC, 4-28-06, A, 3-15-12, Adopted by New Mexico Register, Volume XXIX, Issue 08, April 24, 2018, eff. 4/24/2018, Amended by New Mexico Register, Volume XXXIV, Issue 16, August 29, 2023, eff. 8/31/2023