Santa Fe County 'prepared for anything' as early voting begins

May 6—The sound of chairs, tables and other equipment unfolding echoed early Monday in the usually quiet lobby of the Santa Fe County administrative building on Catron Street.

Call it the sound of democracy in action.

A small but motivated team from the county's Bureau of Elections were furiously preparing for the start of early voting Tuesday in the June 4 primary, where a handful of local Democratic races are hotly contested.

"In Santa Fe County, our county clerk is always big on, 'Vote as early as possible,' " Chief Deputy Clerk Rosangela Ortiz said during a brief break in the setup for early voting.

"We are expecting people to get it out of the way [Tuesday] and start voting," she said. "However, because New Mexico has a semi-closed primary, only those that are part of a major party can vote. Because of that, we don't expect lines out the door. However, it is an important presidential year, which is why we expect higher-than-normal turnout. But we're prepared for anything."

Ortiz said some 3,500 absentee ballots will go out in the mail Tuesday and expanded early voting will begin May 18.

"This is our first site," she said. "We're going to be putting up nine more early vote sites [starting May 18] and 33 total Election Day sites."

County Clerk Katharine Clark said voters can register to vote until Election Day but only have until 5 p.m. Tuesday to change their affiliation.

"If you don't change your major party registration by [Tuesday], you're locked into that major party," she said. "You will not be able to change."

Tuesday is also the last day to register to vote online or by paper, she said.

"You have to use same-day registration for the rest of the time," she said. "You can register [to vote] anytime during the primary. It's just the online portal and paper registration closes [Tuesday]."

Clark said she doesn't know whether the primary will draw a big turnout but noted there are a few local races that are generating a lot of interest, including the First Judicial District Attorney's race between incumbent Mary Carmack-Altwies and her predecessor, Marco Serna, as well as the three-way race for the open state Senate District 24 seat and two open seats on the Santa Fe County Commission.

Clark also is in a hotly contested race. She's running for a second term against the former clerk, Geraldine Salazar, who says she was pushed out of retirement at others' request to challenge Clark.

"There are certain races I think we drive a little bit of turnout, but based on how the primary has gone in other states, I don't know if this is going to be a high turnout election like we saw in 2020," Clark said. "It doesn't seem as active of a primary."

Clark said one of the most frequent questions her office is receiving pertains to the presidential primary.

"When you're voting for your presidential primary, there is the option in all three of the major parties to vote uncommitted," she said.

Clark said the FBI has advised elections officials to use caution.

"Fentanyl is being sent to election offices," she said, adding none has been sent to Santa Fe County but that her office has been instructed "to keep an eye on it and have procedures in place."

"We have to open mail with gloves because of the risk of exposure," she said. "Essentially, people are trying to kill elected officials with powdered fentanyl."

Follow Daniel J. Chacón on Twitter @danieljchacon.