Early voting in NM may break record

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - It is not even November yet, but early voters in Bernalillo County could be on track to break a record.

Thousands showed up at polling places Saturday, the first day of full early voting across the state.

New Mexico has been ruled out as a swing state for the presidential race which is typically the drive for voter turn out. However, this year voters say they have lots of issues on their minds.

Thousands of voters passed through the doors of polling places this weekend across Bernalillo County, more than 10,400.

Voters are doing it early for lots of reasons

“I’m just excited that I can cast my vote and cast it early and I feel very relieved that I’ve been counted,” Lorette Enochis said.

Other shared their opinion.

“I wanted to make sure to get my vote in I work full time and it's difficult sometimes if you have to stand in line on Election Day,” Jana Spalding said.

The race for New Mexico’s open U.S. senate seat is helping to drive crowds.

So is the controversial proposal to raise Albuquerque’s minimum wage and a measure to fund the Paseo del Norte/I-25 interchange project.

“We’re on an hour by hour basis tracking how many voters we've processed,” Bernalillo County Clerk Maggie Toulouse Oliver said.

The Bernalillo County clerk says 1,500 more people turned out to early vote Saturday compared to the same day before the 2008 general election.

“We knew we were going to have a busy day and it's definitely trending to the high end of what we expected,” Toulouse Oliver said.

And voters love being able pick their own polling post.

“It makes it much easier I don't have to worry about where I have to vote I can just go anywhere,” Enochis said.

Even though the national campaigns aren't paying much attention to New Mexico, voters say the chance to have a voice in choosing the country's next president is a pivotal one.

“I think it's important to all of us because we are slowly coming out of this horrific recession there are huge policy issues both nationally and internationally,” Spalding said.

The county clerk says they have mailed out 40,000 fewer absentee ballots this year than during the last presidential race..

Toulouse Oliver is not sure how that will affect turnout, but she hopes because voters can cast their votes anywhere, they're voting in person instead.

There are 17 locations in Bernalillo County open from now through November 3rd.

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