June 2 is primary election day in New Mexico. It’s a bigger deal than usual this year for civic participation because of the passage and signing into law of Senate Bill 16 last year. Senate Bill 16 allows voters not registered as Democrats or Republicans to vote in the primaries. The primaries this year are the first time independents, voters registered as “declined to state” (DTS) voters, will have a chance in determining who gets on the ballot in November.
I am one of over 330,000 voters in New Mexico who has never had a primary vote. Of course, I could have taken advantage of the same day registration law and re-registered as a Democrat or Republican, voted on primary day and then re-re-registered as a DTS, but that is just meaningless hurdles. We still have that system, partly. If you are registered with what is called a “qualified minority party,” that is, a Green or a Libertarian, you have to use the same day re-registration to become temporarily a DTS to get a Democratic or Republican ballot to vote. But for the independent or DTS, this is now automatically offered to you for the asking. For this reason we are now running a “semi-open” primary. And that is only fair.
Ever since the political parties captured the government’s election system, partisan primaries have been a way for the two parties to run a ping-pong political system. This system is so embedded that we independents, who form a major part of the citizenry, have to pay for these two-party, closed primaries which ultimately determine who gets elected in the general elections. In New Mexico, this system has resulted in 80% of the final elected seats being determined in the primaries, in which we independents had no say until now. An indication that voters understood the way this has worked is that primary election turnouts have dropped to about 17% in this state.
The Senate Bill 16 culminated a decade of reform activism by groups like Alliance for Local Economic Prosperity, Common Cause New Mexico, Conservation Voters of New Mexico, DPNM Environmental Justice Caucus, DPNM Veterans and Military Families Caucus, , Equality New Mexico, Green Party of NM, La Raza Unida de Nuevo Mexico, League of Women Voters of New Mexico, Lutheran Advocacy Ministry – New Mexico, NAACP NM, NM Asian Family Center, NM Black Leadership Council, NM Comunidades en Acción y de Fé (NMCAFé), NM Native Vote, NM Voters First, Progress Now New Mexico, UNM College Democrats, Veterans for All Voters, and Young Democrats of New Mexico. In spite of passing the Senate easily, the bill barely squeezed by the House (36 to 33, with one absent).
Supporters look forward to greater civic participation, fewer uncontested seats, and less partisanship in government. Although nationally, over half of the voters are independents, in New Mexico they form only 22% of voters. Yet younger voters, Hispanics, and Native Americans have a much higher portion of independent voters, so open primaries is a step towards inclusive politics.
If you are DTS registered, go vote. Just make sure you are registered. Get a Democratic or Republican ballot by simply asking for it from the county clerk’s office or at the polling place. If you are registered Green or Libertarian, you’ll still have to re-register as Democrat or Republican (depending on which ballot you want) or as a DTS (and switching back afterwards if you want) to get to vote. And check out the candidates so you make an informed choice about who will be on the ballot come November 3.
Here’s more information on semi-open primary voting: https://www.sos.nm.gov/voting-and-elections/voting-faqs/semi-open-primaries/; and
Some information on same day voter registration:
https://www.sos.nm.gov/voting-and-elections/voting-faqs/same-day-voter-registration-faq/.
Here is where you go to find out if you are registered: https://voterportal.servis.sos.state.nm.us/WhereToVote.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1. If you are registered you note the id number and with it you should be able to get a sample ballot by navigating from that page.
The Secretary of State runs a portal with voting information: https://www.sos.nm.gov/voting-and-elections/voter-information-portal-nmvote-org/.
There are a lot of choices to be made to chose candidates for the general election. Here is a site which gives information on those running to be candidates for federal and state offices: https://sourcenm.com/voter-guides/2026-election-new-mexico-primary/. KOAT has a different take on an election guide which gives campaign donations and links to candidates’ campaign websites: https://www.koat.com/article/new-mexico-primary-election-voter-guide-2026-primary/71218631. The League of Women Voters has a voting guide with candidate information fitted to your place of voting. You go to the site and enter your address: https://www.vote411.org/ballot. I haven’t tested this one.
So, go vote.