SOS MTO

Initial indications are there will be no major disruption of New Mexico's June 2 primary election--virus or no virus---but the state will push hard to dramatically increase mail-in ballots in response to the virus threat.

Health experts are uncertain how long the coronavirus pandemic will last. Most put it in a range of "several weeks to several months." If correct, that gives New Mexico some breathing room.

We asked Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver where things stand today:

For now we are focused on a heavy push toward absentee balloting. We will be opening up the online portal to accept applications starting next week. As for what we will do with in-person polling locations, that’s still under consideration. But we are working with the Governor’s office and county clerks to figure out the best and safest path forward.

Absentee ballots are not unpopular but have been overshadowed by the advent of early in-person voting where voters have several weeks to cast ballots at numerous voting locations before the official Election Day.

Usually about at least half of an election's total vote and sometimes much more is cast before the actual election day. The challenge for the SOS, Bernalillo County Clerk Linda Stover and other clerks across the state is to begin educating voters to adopt absentee voting and reduce in-person voting as much as possible in case the coronavirus lingers into mid-May when early voting begins.

Political consultants are getting ready to join the early push to get voters to cast mail-in ballots. Several  expect to see some of the big name races begin paid media earlier than usual and urge an early mail vote.

There's also the issue of campaign rallies and other voter contact. It will be curtailed until there is more clarity over the virus. The consultants look for social media to pick up some of the slack. This will be a big change to New Mexican politics where personal contact has been a cornerstone of election campaigns.

The most impoprtant job for the SOS and county clerks is to preserve the integrity of the election. This year that means acting early so there is no election postponement or adoption of any measures that cast suspicion on the results. In other words, giving us an election as close to normal as possible in these abnormal times.

THE COUNT

As of Sunday night the coronavirus count in the state was 17 with rural New Mexico still dodging the bullet. Two of the cases have been reported in Socorro County, but one of our Senior Alligators reports the cases are in Veguita near Belen which can be considered a part of the ABQ Metro. Our source also reports that another two cases in Bernalillo County are related to the Socorro County cases. All four victims are from the same family that recently traveled to Egypt and returned with the virus. Two of those stricken live in BernCo.

The other counties showing cases are Santa Fe and Sandoval.

Are all 17 cases reported the result of travel out of the state? Apparently. The state has not said in recent updates the origins of the latest cases as they did in initial updates. If they are all due to travel, the dreaded “community spread” of the disease has not yet taken hold here. We are awaiting definitive word on this from state officials.