Doña Ana County turnout trending below 2018 primaries
LAS CRUCES - Turnout for the 2022 primaries is looking to be much lower in Doña Ana County than the last round of midterms, according to incomplete results.
According to the New Mexico Secretary of State's Office, 13,474 county voters had either voted early, voted absentee or voted on Election Day as of 5 p.m. Tuesday. Using recent numbers from the 2021 local elections, an estimated 10.4 percent of eligible voters had cast a ballot in Doña Ana County as of 5 p.m.
The office said 6,926 people had voted on Election Day so far, accounting for more than half of the total turnout.
Early voting for the primary elections ended Saturday, June 4. Absentee ballots can still be returned to the county clerk's office, a secured drop box or any polling place until polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday.
More than 8,000 Democrats and over 5,300 Republicans had voted — either early, absentee or on Tuesday — by 5 p.m. in the county, the secretary of state's office said. Ninety Libertarians had voted so far.
Total turnout is trending far below the 2018 midterms — though far more voters are eligible to vote in the primaries this year than were eligible four years ago.
More: Here's what to know about primary election day in New Mexico
This is the first primary during which minor party and unaffiliated voters could register with one of New Mexico's three major parties — the Democratic, Republican or Libertarian parties — during early voting and on Election Day prior to voting, likely increasing access to the polls for many voters.
Voters already registered with a major party were prohibited from changing affiliations to another major party after May 10.
According to the secretary of state's office, 288 people had registered as Democrats, 260 had registered as Republicans and 16 had registered as Libertarians since early voting began, as of 5 p.m. Tuesday.
Turnout in Doña Ana County was 21 percent of eligible voters for the 2018 primaries, the Sun-News previously reported.
Doña Ana County Chief Deputy Clerk Lindsey Bachman told the Sun-News that if only people who had registered with one of the major parties so far were considered, voter turnout in 2022 jumps to about 15 percent as of 5:30 p.m.
Michael McDevitt is a city and county government reporter for the Sun-News. He can be reached at 575-202-3205, mmcdevitt@lcsun-news.com or @MikeMcDTweets on Twitter.
This article originally appeared on Las Cruces Sun-News: Doña Ana County turnout trending below 2018 primaries
