Over 117,000 New Mexicans vote early in the 2024 primaries

Out of the total count of early voters this year, 87,787 voted in-person, while the remaining 29,464 voted by mail. (Getty Images)

The last day of early voting was Saturday, and significantly more New Mexico voters got their ballots in before election day compared to the last statewide primary election.

Kanji Tanka (Lakota Oyate) and his partner voted by absentee ballot last week. Tanka, who lives in Santa Fe, said his partner did a lot of research into her choices, while he did what he has done in all previous elections: he voted for all Democratic candidates, because “There’s nothing else to vote for.”

“There’s not much hope for Biden, but it’s better than having no hope at all,” Tanka said in an interview Monday evening while heading home north on New Mexico’s commuter train the Rail Runner. “Basically, the system is pretty much run by white people, for white people. People like me, women and children, we’re at the bottom of the pile.”

Tanka and his partner are among the 117,251 people who voted early in New Mexico’s 2024 primary election, according to Secretary of State data released on Monday morning.

That’s almost 15% more early votes compared to the 2022 New Mexico primaries, when 102,509 people voted early.

Tanka said he has not voted for most of his life, but decided to vote in this election because “everybody keeps telling me, ‘your vote counts.’”

“You know what? For Native Americans, it’s highly doubtful,” he said. “It might help a little, but we have a government system — doesn’t matter who’s running it — they’ve always been anti-Indian.”

Out of the total count of early voters this year, 87,787 voted in-person, while the remaining 29,464 voted by mail.

New Mexico’s same-day registration process allowed 2,691 people to adjust their party affiliation in order to participate in the state’s primary. This included 1,528 who registered as Democrats, 1,104 Republicans and 59 Libertarians.

Absentee ballots have been requested by 38,931 people so far, including 27,593 Democrats, 11,151 Republicans, 183 Libertarians and four people who declined to state a party.

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