By JODY BENSONMany first-time voters registered either Independent or Declined to State. But dear Libertarians, Independents, Declined-to-States, Greens, Communist, Unity, American Delta Party, Party for Socialism and Liberation, and any of the other parties of New Mexico—please be aware that New Mexico has a Closed Primary, which means you can only vote in the party in which you are registered.
Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians have candidates in the Primary. But, except for the local office of sheriff in the Republican Party, the only party with candidates with opposition in the Primary are the Democrats. (There are three County Council candidates, but all will be on the November ballot.)
The Primary is the most important race. It determines who will be on the ballot for the election in November. If you don’t vote now, you won’t have the candidate you want to vote for when you can vote for anybody in November.
I know people of a particular party are thinking: We don’t have a choice so why bother voting? It’s true if you’re a registered anything-but-Democrat, you either cannot vote, or don’t have a choice in candidates. Here’s the thing, though. You can still vote. In Los Alamos anybody who reads the Los Alamos Daily Post or the Monitor can know what’s going on. You know what the candidates’ positions are. You probably even know the candidate. For the most part, locally, Party sort-of does … but more sort-of doesn’t … matter. You could change your registration. You don’t have to tell anybody. Just change back after the Primary.
You have until May 8 to go online and either register or change your registration. Please, though. Vote.
To see who the candidates are, check out the sample ballots for each Party here: https://www.losalamosnm.us/government/elected_officials/county_clerk/election_information/
To register to vote or change your registration:
https://portal.sos.state.nm.us/OVR/WebPages/InstructionsStep1.aspx?AspxAutoDetectCookieSupport=1
