Polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday as independent voters participate under New Mexico’s new semi-open primary rules.

Damien Willis, Organ Mountain News

LAS CRUCES - Doña Ana County voters will have 42 locations available Tuesday to cast ballots in New Mexico’s 2026 primary election, the first held under new rules allowing independent voters to participate without changing their registration.

Polling locations across the county will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, June 2. The full list of Election Day voting locations is available on the Doña Ana County Elections Bureau website.

As of Monday, more than 181,900 eligible voters had already cast ballots statewide, including more than 18,500 voters not registered with a qualified political party, according to the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office.

New Mexico’s semi-open primary system took effect July 1, 2025. Under the new rules, voters who are not registered with a qualified major or minor party, including voters registered as independent or declined-to-state, may select a major party ballot and vote in that party’s primary without changing their voter registration.

Voters registered with a major party may vote only in that party’s primary and may not change parties to vote in another major party’s primary. Voters registered with a qualified minor party may update their registration through same-day voter registration at a polling location and vote in the primary election.

Returning absentee ballots

The deadline to request a mailed ballot has passed. Voters who still have an absentee ballot should return it in person rather than mail it, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

Completed absentee ballots must be received by 7 p.m. Tuesday at a polling location, an official election drop box or the Doña Ana County Clerk’s Office.

Doña Ana County lists 24/7 secured absentee ballot drop-off containers at the following locations:

• Anthony City Hall Municipal Complex, 820 Highway 478, Anthony
• Delores C. Wright Educational Center, 400 E. Lisa Drive, Chaparral
• Hatch Valley High School, 170 E. Herrera Road, Hatch
• Corbett Center Student Union at NMSU, 1600 International Mall, Las Cruces
• Doña Ana County Government Center, 845 N. Motel Blvd., Las Cruces
• Las Cruces City Hall, 700 N. Main St., Las Cruces
• Sonoma Elementary School, 4201 Northrise Drive, Las Cruces
• Mesilla Town Hall, 2231 Avenida de Mesilla, Mesilla
• Sunland Park City Library, 1000 McNutt Road, Suite A, Sunland Park

Election Day voting

The county’s 42 Election Day voting locations include sites in Anthony, Berino, Chaparral, Doña Ana, Garfield, Hatch, La Mesa, Las Cruces, La Union, Mesilla, Mesquite, Organ, Radium Springs, Rincon, San Miguel, Santa Teresa, Sunland Park and Vado.

Voters can review county voting locations through the Doña Ana County Elections Bureau. Voters can also find polling locations, sample ballots and same-day voter registration information through NMVote.org.

Election night results

Unofficial election results will be available after polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday on the Secretary of State’s Office website.

State law requires poll workers to pause ballot tabulation and tallying at 11 p.m. on Election Night. If counting has not finished by then, election boards will reconvene the following day to continue their work.

The Secretary of State’s Office also said election judges manually review and count write-in votes. Because of the potential volume of write-in ballots in this election, reporting those results may continue after Election Day.

Damien Willis is founder and editor of Organ Mountain News. If you have a personal story to share or a lead we should follow up on, reach out at OrganMountainNews@gmail.com or connect with him on X at @damienwillis.