Officials saw strong turnout for early, absentee balloting in San Juan County
FARMINGTON — With early voting having come to an end in San Juan County on Nov. 5, registered voters who still wish to take part in the general election will have one more chance to do so, when polls are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. at 33 sites across the county on Tuesday, Nov. 8.
A news release issued Nov. 3 by San Juan County officials indicated that voter interest in this election appeared to be strong, despite it being a mid-term elections year when interest typically wanes and turnout falls. In addition to voting for members of the state Legislature and Congress, San Juan County voters will weigh in on the governor’s race, County Commission races, several judgeships, a handful of proposed New Mexico constitutional amendments and bond questions, among other ballot entries.
As of Nov. 2, 13,710 voters had cast an early ballot, and another 2,135 voters had returned an absentee ballot, according to the county. Those figures represent nearly 20% of registered voters in San Juan County, according to the news release.
Early voting began Oct. 11 at six locations in the county.
A snag in the county’s absentee ballot system, resulting in some of those ballots being sent without an address on the return envelope, appears to have not had a sizable impact on returns, county officials say. Staff members in the County Clerk’s Office have contacted many of those voters to make sure the envelopes were addressed properly before they were mailed, according to the news release, and that has resulted in more than 80% of those unaddressed envelopes having been returned to the County Clerk’s Office by Nov. 2.
Any absentee voter who has not yet submitted a ballot is advised make sure the correct address — San Juan County Clerk, P.O. Box 550, Aztec, NM 87410 — is on the envelope before mailing their ballot.
Those who plan to vote in person on election day can examine a sample of the ballot they will receive by visiting the county clerk website at sjcclerk.net. The site also features a list of the 33 voting convenience stations that will be open throughout San Juan County on that day.
That list includes:
● The Aztec Masonic Lodge, 1020 N.E. Aztec Blvd. in Aztec
● The Cedar Hill Fire Station, 4 County Road 2343 in Cedar Hill
● The San Juan County Fire Operations Center, 209 S. Oliver Drive in Aztec
● The Blanco Fire Station, 7372 U.S. Highway 64 in Blanco
● Bloomfield City Hall, 915 N. 1st St. in Bloomfield
● The Bloomfield Cultural Center, 333 S. 1st St. in Bloomfield
● Farmington City Hall, 800 Municipal Drive in Farmington
● The Farmington Civic Center, 200 W. Arrington St. in Farmington
● The Farmington Museum at Gateway Park, 3041 E. Main St. in Farmington
● The Farmington Public Library, 2101 Farmington Ave. in Farmington
● McGee Park, 41 County Road 5568 in Farmington
● Pinon Hills Community Church, 5101 Dustin Ave. in Farmington
● Pinon Hills Seventh Day Adventist Church, 5001 Foothills Drive in Farmington
● The Sycamore Park Community Center, 1051 Sycamore St. in Farmington
● The Flora Vista Fire Station, 2 County Road 3275 in Flora Vista
● The Brooks/Isham Performing Arts Center, 540 County Road 6100 in Kirtland
● The Kirtland Youth Association, 39 County Road 6500 in Kirtland
● The La Plata Community Center, 1438 N.M. Highway 170 in La Plata
● The Central Consolidated School District Business Office, south of U.S. Highway 64 at the old Shiprock High School
● The Phil Thomas Performing Arts Center on U.S. Highway 64 in Shiprock
● The Beclabito Chapter facilities, County Road 9064 in Beclabito
● The Crystal Chapter facilities, 1/3 mile north on Navajo Route 12 from the junction with Navajo Route 134 in Crystal
● The Gadii’ahi Chapter facilities, 11 miles northwest on County Road 9100 in Gadii'ahi
● The Huerfano Chapter facilities, 536 County Road 7150 in Huerfano
● The Lake Valley School, 13 County Road 7750 in Lake Valley
● The Nageezi Chapter facilities, 1153 U.S. Highway 550 in Nageezi
● The Naschitti Chapter facilities, mile marker 42 on the west side of U.S. Highway 491 in Naschitti
● Nenahnezad, between County Road 6675 and Navajo Route 36 in Nenahnezad
● The Newcomb Fire Station, mile marker 56.5 on the west side of U.S. Highway 491 in Newcomb
● The Sheep Springs Chapter facilities, just west of mile marker 47 on U.S. Highway 491 in Sheep Springs
● The Tiis Tsoh Sikaad (Burnham) Chapter facilities, 12 miles east of U.S. Highway 491 on Navajo Route 5 and ½ mile south on Navajo Route 5080 in Burnham
● The Tse alnaozt’i’I (Sanostee) Chapter facilities, 9 miles west of U.S. Highway 491 on Indian Service Route 34
● The Two Grey Hills Chapter facilities, 3 miles south of the junction of Navajo Route 19 and Navajo Route 5000 in Toadlena (Two Grey Hills).
Call the County Clerk’s Office at 505-334-9471 for more information.
Mike Easterling can be reached at 505-564-4610 or measterling@daily-times.com. Support local journalism with a digital subscription: http://bit.ly/2I6TU0e.
This article originally appeared on Farmington Daily Times: Voting centers open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 8
