Nearly 9,000 cast their ballot on New Mexico’s first day of early voting

New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver annouced historic early voter turnout during a Harris-Walz campaign event on Oct. 9, 2024 in Albuquerque. (Photo by Austin Fisher / Source New Mexico)

Nearly 9,000 New Mexicans cast a ballot on the first day of early voting Tuesday, which election officials called a historic turnout.

“We had – and I want to just say this is the official announcement – the biggest first day of early voting in our state’s history, yesterday,” said New Mexico Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver at a Kamala Harris campaign event Wednesday.

Of the 8,891 votes cast on Tuesday, the vast majority of people voted in-person. Only 1,141 people returned absentee ballots, according to the New Mexico Secretary of State’s Office.

Early voting will continue until Nov. 2, the weekend before Election Day, when people will make their choices for U.S. president and down ballot races. Counties will open additional early voting polling stations later this month.

Additionally, 112 people across the state have used same-day registration before heading to the booths. Rural counties posted the highest number of same-day registrants: 11 people in Grant County, followed closely by 10 people in Eddy County in the state’s southeastern corner.

More than 96,000 voters have requested an absentee ballot so far this election, according to the secretary of state’s office. More than half of the requests were from 42,022 voters living in Bernalillo County, the state’s most populous area.

The last day to request an absentee ballot is Oct. 22. All absentee ballots are required to be returned via mail or dropped off in-person or in a secure drop box by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5.

Austin Fisher contributed to the reporting of this article.