Serving Clovis, Portales and the Surrounding Communities

Early voting begins

Early voting for the June 2 primary has begun, with both the Curry and Roosevelt county clerk's offices reopened for that specific purpose.

Other functions provided by the clerk's offices will still be handled on an appointment basis.

With the COVID-19 pandemic continuing, many voters are expected to take the path of absentee ballots. The state is not mailing out absentee ballot applications, but instead mailers have been sent that tell voters how to apply for an absentee ballot at: nmvote.org

About 500 Curry County voters and 300 Roosevelt County voters have applied either through the website or by calling their county clerk and requesting a printed application.

Curry County Clerk Annie Hogland said about 300 voters requested applications through the clerk's office and Roosevelt County Clerk Stephanie Hicks wasn't sure on that total. But both have said most of those applications have been filled out and returned.

Once the application is approved, the Secretary of State's Office takes care of mailing the absentee ballots. Tuesday was the first day those ballots could legally be mailed.

New Mexico has a closed primary system, and the primary is limited to registered voters who have stated Republican, Democratic or Libertarian as party preference.

If people still prefer to vote in person, they can do so with precautions.

The Curry County Administrative Complex will be open 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. May 30 for early voting.

Starting May 16, the Youth Recreation Building will be an alternate voting side 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday until May 30.

"We are limited to the amount of people we can have inside the clerk's office, so we will have chairs set up in the county building," Hogland said. "We will be offering masks to the voters as well."

The Roosevelt County Courthouse will be open only at the north entrance, along the First Street side of the town square. Early voting will be held 8 a.m.-5 p.m. weekdays and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. May 30.

Starting May 16, the Jake Lopez Community Center at the Roosevelt County Fairgrounds will open as an alternate site, noon-8 p.m. Tuesday through Friday and 10 a.m.-6 p.m. Saturdays through May 30.

Hicks figured a voter should budget around 35 minutes to vote just in case.

"We will offer them a mask and ask them to use hand sanitizer," Hicks said. "It will be a slow process, as we only have two voting booths set up (and we will clean equipment between voters)."

Hicks anticipated more voting booths would be available at the Jake Lopez Community Center because it's far more spacious, but she did not yet know how many that would be.

 
 
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