Absentee Voting

Absentee Ballot Applications

The Office of the City Clerk is unable to process Applications for Absentee Ballots that are not on the form approved by the Clerk.

If you request an Application from the Office of the City Clerk, we will mail it to you. For the 2013 Regular Municipal Election, we will begin to mail applications on July 1st.

The only third parties authorized to provide Applications are the Bernalillo County Clerk and candidates on the ballot and their campaign representatives.

Voting by Absentee Ballot

The Office of the City Clerk follows the absentee voting procedures outlined by state and local law.  If you are interested in absentee voting, here's the information you'll need:

• The voter must contact the Office of the City Clerk and request an application for an absentee ballot. The auto voter list is no longer available. All individuals wishing to vote absentee MUST request an application for absentee ballot;
• The Office of the City Clerk will process the requests for applications for absentee ballots and begin to mail the applications several months prior to Election Day;
• Once the voter receives the application for absentee ballot, the voter must complete the application and return it to the Office of the City Clerk on or before the last day the Clerk may issue an absentee ballot.  Pursuant to law, the City Clerk will reject any application that does not include the voter's full date of birth.
• The Office of the City Clerk will process the received applications and begin to mail absentee ballots to eligible voters 35 days before Election Day, as required by State law.

Absentee Ballot Deadline

The City Clerk must receive absentee ballots from voters by 7 p.m. on Election Day.

The Clerk accepts absentee ballots by mail or hand delivery in the Office of the City Clerk. If ballots are hand delivered, it must be received directly from the voter, the voter's caregiver or a member of the voter's immediate family.

The City Clerk encourages all absentee voters to allow plenty of time for the absentee process. The sooner you return your application, the faster we can get you your ballot.

Timely mailing or return of your absentee ballot will ensure we receive it prior to the deadline.

All absentee ballots require the voter's signature in acknowledgement of the Voter's Oath on the outer mailing envelope.  The Clerk is prohibited by law from counting ballots that arrive in the Office unsigned.