New Mexico pushes forward with emergency voting reforms

SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico election regulators say they'll move forward with an initiative that allows voters to trace mail-in ballots with the use of an individualized bar code in cooperation with the U.S. Postal Service.

Officials with the New Mexico secretary of state's office briefed lawmakers Tuesday on new election procedures that respond to the coronavirus pandemic and a surging reliance on voting by absentee ballot.

State Elections Director Mandy Vigil expressed relief at Tuesday's announcement by the U.S. postmaster general that he would halt operational changes to mail delivery that critics warned could disrupt November's elections. New Mexico's attorney general filed suit alongside other states to try and stop the changes.

Vigil said her office has worked closely with regional Postal Service officials on plans to place an “intelligent bar code” on the outer envelope of absentee ballots.

That allows registered voters to track a ballot through various post office facilities as it is being delivered to their home and then back to the local county clerk's office. Under New Mexico law, ballots that arrive after 7 p.m on Election Day are not valid.

Absentee ballots accounted for 63% of votes in the statewide primary, up from 7% in the 2016 primary, as overall participation also spiked.

The ballot tracing initiative is among a long list of emergency reforms adopted in late June by the Legislature and Democratic Gov. Michelle Lujan Grisham in response to the COVID-19 pandemic and related problems in the state's June 2 primary.

New Mexico is adding new voter identification measures to the absentee balloting process and encouraging counties to distribute applications 50 days before the general election.

For the first time, absentee ballots that can be...