Election officials in Sandoval County, which includes growing suburban Rio Rancho, said they expect Tuesday’s voter turnout in their New Mexico county will break the record previously set in the 2016 presidential primary election.
As of early Tuesday afternoon, Chief Deputy County Clerk Joey Dominguez told Source NM during a tour of the county’s ballot warehouse that he had already received more than 21,000 ballots. The previous county record set in 2016 was 22,880 ballots, according to data from the New Mexico Secretary of State.
High-profile, statewide races on Tuesday’s ballot include contested primaries for governor, land commissioner and secretary of state.
As of Tuesday afternoon, nearly 76,000 New Mexicans across the state had cast ballots on Election Day, according to the secretary of state’s office. Approximately 260,000 voters, or about 18.5% of the electorate, have voted all together thus far.
Tuesday is “by far, going to be a record turnout for a primary election,” Dominguez said. “Our goal is to have as many reported by the 10 o’clock news as possible.”
Throughout Election Day, about 100 workers will sort through those thousands of ballots, checking for any inconsistencies. For example, a bubble that is only partially filled out in an uncontested race — such as the Democratic primary for state auditor — signals “voter intent,” Dominguez said, and is often ruled as a vote for that candidate. A partially filled-out bubble in a three-way race, however, is harder to gauge and is often ruled as a no vote, he said.
When absentee or early ballots come in, election workers carefully review them to make sure the signatures and Social Security numbers match those in each voter’s registration records.
County Clerk Anne Brady-Romero, a Democrat in her second term, told Source NM she has twice stayed until 5 a.m. the day after Election Day tallying votes. This election, though, with extra help on hand, she is “shooting for midnight.”
Part of the scheduling is attributable to the county’s geography. Sandoval County covers more than 3,700 square miles and includes a number of Pueblos and tribal chapters, meaning couriers must often travel rural, unpaved roads far from major interstates to transport ballots from the polling place to the county’s warehouse.
“We stay here until every single ballot is done,” Brady-Romero said.