Jacqueline Devine

Alamogordo Daily News

ALAMOGORDO – Otero County Clerk Denise Guerra is urging residents to register to vote before the deadline Oct. 11.

The County Clerk’s Office has provided information on where to register for the Nov. 8, 2016 general election.

Voter registration closes Oct. 11 at 5 p.m.

Residents may register at the following locations:

>> County Clerk’s Office, 1104 N. White Sands Blvd. Suite C

>> Alamogordo Motor Vehicle Department, 263C Robert H Bradley Dr.

>> Residents also have the option to register online on the New Mexico Secretary of State’s website, http://sos.state.nm.us

Absentee voting will be from Oct. 11 through Nov. 5, Monday – Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday, Nov. 5, from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. at the Otero County Administration Building, 1101 New York Ave., Room 101.

To apply for an absentee ballot by mail contact the County Clerk’s Office to have one mailed or call 437-4942.

Early voting will begin Oct. 22 through Nov. 5 at the following alternate locations:

>> Otero County Fairgrounds, 401 Fairgrounds Road (Oct. 22 through Nov. 5, Tuesday - Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.)

>> Inn of the Mountain Gods, 287 Carrizo Canyon Road in Mescalero (Nov. 3 through Nov. 5, Thursday – Saturday from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.)

>> Mobile voting at the Tularosa Public Safety Facility, 609 St. Francis Dr. #B (Saturday, Oct. 29 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.)

>> Mobile voting at the Cloudcroft Council Chambers, 1001 James Canyon Hwy (Saturday, Oct. 29 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.)

>> Mobile voting at the Chaparral Far South Fire Station, 827 Luna Dr. (Saturday, Nov. 5 from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.)

Guerra said the Secretary of State’s Office recently announced that they have joined the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) Project on the cusp of National Registration Day which is Tuesday, Sept. 27.

National Voter Registration Day is an event designed to encourage civic participation and help educate Americans on the ways in which they can register to vote.

The ERIC Project is a non-profit organization with the sole mission of assisting states to improve accuracy of America’s voter rolls and increase access to voter registration for all eligible citizens.

New Mexico joined in July 2016.

“The ERIC Project currently has 21 states that are participating. What they do is they do a comparison of the Motor Vehicle Department to see who’s registered and who is not,” Guerra said. “If someone is not registered they get mailed a card. They went out on Sept. 19, it gives them the opportunity to register for the election and on the card it gives them the Oct. 11 date so they can have that opportunity to register to vote or go online.”

She said the program lets them know which residents are registered in a different state so they can let them know if they want to register in New Mexico.

“Let’s say you lived in California and you live here now and you’re registered to vote there, it’s going to catch that. It will ask you if you want to register to vote in New Mexico,” Guerra said. “It also catches people who are now deceased. Maybe they died in another state and we haven’t caught that.”

According to a Secretary of State’s Office press release, New Mexico election officials have sent out the postcards this week to 459,838 state residents who appear eligible to vote but haven’t registered.

The postcard invites eligible voters to register online or by mail by the deadline of Oct. 11 in order to vote in the upcoming Nov. 8 election.

According to a voter registration statistics count report from the Otero County Clerk’s Office, there are currently 9,293 registered Democrats and 14,309 registered Republicans out of 31,093 Otero County residents.

Guerra also advises all residents to educate themselves on all the candidates before they head out to the voting polls.

There will also be a county question on the ballot asking if the number of Otero County Board of Commissioners should be increased to five members.

“Get information on the candidates, on the (state) Constitutional Amendments and the General Obligation Bonds. We will have sample ballots out next week on our website and the SOS website so people can get familiar with all the candidates,” she said. “They can also go to the Democratic and Republican headquarters to get information on their candidates before they head to the polls.”

The Republican Party of Otero County will register voters Saturday, Sept. 24, at their headquarters, 1301 E. 10th St., from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. For more information contact RPOC Chairman Chuck Hartman at 491-4169.

Democratic candidate Denise A. Lang who is running for the state House District 51 seat will also be assisting residents who want to register to vote Saturday, Sept. 24, from noon to 2 p.m. at DB’Z Chop Shop, 301 N. White Sands Blvd.

Lang will be registering residents until the Oct. 11 deadline.

Democratic candidate Stephanie DuBois who is running for the Otero County Clerk seat will be in Chaparral on Saturday, Sept. 24, at Stires Super Market, 304 McCombs Road, from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. to register people to vote. For more information contact DuBois at 430-1640.

For more information on voter registration visit the Otero County Clerk’s Office, 1104 N. White Sands Blvd. Suite C or call 437-4942. More information can also be found on their website at http://co.otero.nm.us

For more information regarding the upcoming general election, visit the Secretary of State’s Office website, http://sos.state.nm.us