2022 saw more N.M. registered voters, more same-day registrants

Although New Mexico maintained fairly average voter turnout numbers this year, the state did see a slight increase in how many people actually registered to vote in the 2022 Election compared with previous years. There was also a big boost in people registering and then voting the same day for this election.

About 1.36 million people registered to vote in New Mexico — over half the state’s population. Those numbers have been gradually increasing for years in the state, and about 12,700 more people registered this year compared with the General Election in 2020.

Of those registered voters, just over half actually cast a ballot this year — 711,556 voters. The numbers have fluctuated over the last decade, according to data from the Secretary of State’s Office. Tuesday’s election had the lowest turnout in a General Election since 2016.

Voters cast their ballots in N.M. pretty consistently from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. when the polls were open. Before the election, conspiracy theorists across the country were telling people to vote as late as possible to avoid election fraud — an unbased theory — but Secretary of State spokesperson Alex Curtas said people didn’t seem to try to follow that line of thinking in New Mexico.

“I don’t think that the sort of conspiracy ‘everyone wait ‘till the last minute to vote’ sort of thing really panned out,” he said.

Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver encouraged New Mexicans to learn more about how the state maintains voter integrity now that the election is over.

“Multiple levels of security and accountability are built into our election process to ensure every vote counts, and the public should remain wary of misinformation about this election that is likely to circulate in the coming days,” Toulouse Oliver said in a statement after the polls closed on Tuesday.

Same-day registration boomed on Election Day

Voters could register and cast a ballot the same day for the first time ever in a General Election this year, and many did just that.

The state tried out same-day registration for the first time in a statewide election during the primaries over the summer, and the number of people using the option doubled this time around.

Over 20,000 New Mexicans used same-day registration during the 2022 General Election, according to the Secretary of State’s Office. And about 10,000 of those voters used it on Tuesday, Curtas said.

Curtas said there were no issues reported with the same-day registration — or in this week’s election overall.

“In terms of the election itself, it was very smooth sailing all day long,” he said.