Ryan Lindquist and colleagues,
The League of Women Voters of Central New Mexico is a non-partisan organization that provides Voter Education resources for voters in Bernalillo, Sandoval, Torrance, and Valencia Counties. We wanted to share information about our resources with the UNM Student Government Association and to ask for their support in communicating information about the election to the campus community. We reviewed voter turnout data for the 2023 local election provided by the Bernalillo County Clerk's Offices and noted that the population under 35 was significantly underrepresented as a percent of registered voters.
We wondered if the Student Government Association might be able to invite students to participate in these nonpartisan local elections. Our elected representatives are involved in making decisions that impact the day-to-day life of the campus community, including issues of schools, housing, transportation, parks, bike paths, and safety.
There is still time. Early voting for the November 4th Local Election is underway and Bernalillo County has established an Early Voting site in Louie's Lounge in the SUB on Main Campus. Voters can register and/or change their registration using Same Day Registration there. The polling place is open from 10 am to 7 pm M-Sat through 11/1. It will also be open on Election Day 11/4 from 7 am to 7 pm.
Bernalillo County has races for Mayor, City Council, School Board, CNM Board, the Flood Control Authorities and Soil and Water Conservation Districts. There are 11 Bond Issues.
For each election, we produce a Voter Guide which contains information about candidates and ballot measures. We ask candidates to respond to a series of questions, so that voters can compare responses and review bond and ballot questions.
- Voters can view the specific information on their ballot on the League website https://www.vote411.org by typing in their address.
- PDF versions of our full Voter Guide for Bernalillo, Sandoval, Torrance, and Valencia counties are now available and accessible on our website at http://www.lwvcnm.org. [LWVCNM has not produced a print version for this election, but will do so for the 2026 general election.]
- Copies of flyers to notify the public about the Voter Guide are also available on our website.
The League of Women Voters has chapters in Santa Fe, Los Alamos, and Las Cruces, all of which are publishing printed and pdf versions of the Voter Guide for their areas. [Links are accessible at http://www.lwvcnm.org.]
We have provided information to libraries on campus, and to the Student Resources Centers, but if you can think of any other ways to share information from the Student Government Organization, we would much appreciate it. It would be great if we could engage more voters from the campus community to be involved in this election.
Please let us know if you have any questions or suggestions.
Thank you,
Lani Desaulniers
Co-1st Vice President
League of Women Voters of Central New Mexico