TITLE 1 GENERAL
GOVERNMENT ADMINISTRATION
CHAPTER 10 ELECTIONS
AND ELECTED OFFICIALS
PART 6 PARTY
POSITION ON GENERAL ELECTION BALLOT
1.10.6.1 ISSUING AGENCY: Office of
the Secretary of State, 325 Don Gaspar, Suite 300, Santa Fe, New Mexico, 87503.
[12-15-97; 1.10.6.1 NMAC – Rn & A, 1 NMAC 10.6.1,
09-14-00]
1.10.6.2 SCOPE: This rule applies to
any general election.
[12-15-97; 1.10.6.2 NMAC – Rn, 1 NMAC 10.6.2, 09-14-00]
1.10.6.3 STATUTORY AUTHORITY:
Election Code, Section 1-10-8 NMSA 1978; Election Code, Section 1-2-1A(2) NMSA
1978.
[12-15-97; 1.10.6.3 NMAC – Rn, 1 NMAC 10.6.3, 09-14-00]
1.10.6.4 DURATION: Permanent.
[12-15-97; 1.10.6.4 NMAC – Rn, 1 NMAC 10.6.4, 09-14-00]
1.10.6.5 EFFECTIVE DATE: December
15, 1997 unless a later date is cited at the end of a section.
[12-15-97; 1.10.6.5 NMAC – Rn & A, 1 NMAC 10.6.5,
09-14-00]
1.10.6.6 OBJECTIVE: To determine by
lot the order of preference for position on the voting machines and all ballots
of the candidates of political parties in a general election.
[12-15-97; 1.10.6.6 NMAC – Rn, 1 NMAC 10.6.6, 09-14-00]
1.10.6.7 DEFINITIONS: [Reserved]
[12-15-97; 1.10.6.7
NMAC – Rn, 1 NMAC 10.6.7, 09-14-00]
1.10.6.8 PROCEDURES FOR DETERMINING
BALLOT POSITION:
A. The
names of the candidates of each political party qualified to participate in a
general election shall be placed by party on the general election ballot in the
order of preference as determined by lot at a drawing held for that purpose.
B. Notice shall be sent to each chairman of a qualified
political party by certified mail, return receipt requested, not less than two
weeks prior to such drawing.
C. On the first Wednesday in the month of September in
the year in which a general election is to be held, the state chairman of each
political party qualified to participate in the election, or his designated
representative with written authorization by such chairman, shall meet in the
office of the Secretary of State at a time specified in a notice sent by the
Secretary of State. At this time the
chairman or his designated representative shall proceed to draw by lot for the
position of his party on the general election ballot.
D. There
shall be placed in a suitable container, capsules containing numbers one
through the number that is equivalent to the total number of major political
parties participating in the general election.
The number drawn by each major party state chairman or his designated
representative shall determine the position on the general election ballot that
his party and its candidates shall occupy, with number one being the first
position on the ballot, number two being the second, number three being the
third, and so on down the ballot until all major parties are placed on the
ballot. The same procedure shall be
followed in a separate drawing for minor parties’ ballot positions. In the event no state chairman or his
designated representative appears as notified for such drawing, the Secretary
of State shall draw for that political party.
E. The order of preference of major political parties
for purposes of this section shall be:
first, the
top row, with the offices proceeding from left to right
across the machine or paper ballot; second, the second row, with the offices
proceeding from left to right across the machine or paper ballot; and
thereafter, consecutively down each row in the same manner until all major
parties and their candidates are positioned on the ballot.
F. The
order of preference of minor political parties for purposes of this section in
the positions below the major parties on the machine or ballot shall be: first, the top row with the offices
proceeding from left to right across the machine or paper ballot; second, the
second row, with the offices proceeding from left to right across the machine
or paper ballot; and thereafter consecutively down each row in the same manner
until all minor parties and their candidates are positioned on the ballot.
G. The
names of all unaffiliated candidates, or candidates who decline to state a
party affiliation shall be printed on the ballot as “Independent”, or
abbreviated as “Ind.” and shall be positioned on the ballot below or after
candidates affiliated with a political party, if any. In the event two or more independent candidates run for the same
office, their names shall be located on the ballot in alphabetical order.
H. The
sample ballot posted in each polling place and all sample ballots distributed
to each polling place shall reflect the actual positioning of parties on the
voting machine in that precinct.
I. When
electronic vote recording and tabulating machines or electronic vote tabulating
machines are used, the offices and candidates shall be printed on the ballot
sheet or ballot card in a vertical position with the order of preference being
from top to bottom.
J. When paper ballots are used in a general election,
such ballots shall be printed and bound so that the ballots for each precinct
shall reflect the actual positioning of parties as they appear on the voting
machines in that precinct.
[12-15-97; 1.10.6.8 NMAC – Rn & A, 1 NMAC 10.6.8,
09-14-00]
HISTORY OF 1.10.6
NMAC:
Pre-NMAC History:
The material in this Part was derived from that previously filed with
the State Records Center and Archives under:
SOS Rule No. 79-2, Rule for Determination of Ballot Position
in General Elections, 7-27-79.
SOS Rule No. 79-2,Amendment No. 1, 2-9-82.
