Albuquerque’s city council election is five months away and on Tuesday, the city clerk’s office announced which candidates qualified for public financing.

Ten of the 13 candidates who tried to qualify for public funds successfully collected enough signatures and corresponding $5 contributions, according to a press release from the clerk’s office. For the first time, City Clerk Katy Duhigg said, the $5 contributions could be made electronically.

“We believe the City’s public financing program has proven to be accessible, and we will continue to work with Mayor Keller and this administration to find more ways to improve and advance the program,” Duhigg said in a statement.

Four of the city’s nine council seats are up for election this year.

But qualifying for public financing is still the first step. All candidates, including the ones who plan to use private financing, have until the end of the month to collect 500 petition signatures to qualify to appear on November’s ballot.

This is also the first year Albuquerque will hold its municipal election in November instead of October, thanks to the state’s Local Election Act. The act allows local governments the chance to opt into a new election process, which also could include ranked choice voting if respective local governments agree to implement it.

The Albuquerque City Council is set to vote on two different ranked choice voting measures later this month. One would opt Albuquerque into ranked choice voting with a majority council vote. Another proposal would ask voters in November to decide whether to switch voting systems.

