League of Women Voters of New Mexico

What we do

The League of Women Voters has worked since 1920 to improve local, state and national government and strengthen our communities through citizen education and action.

The League of Women Voters is nonpartisan; it never supports or opposes candidates or political parties. The League does take action on issues of importance to its members and the community, after studying them in depth.

Membership is open to all residents of the United States, both women and men, who are 16 years or older. Find out more.

During the COVID-19 Emergency, Consider Voting Absentee

The NM Supreme Court has decided against an all-mail election. But each voter still has the choice to request an absentee ballot. No excuse needed. Apply now!

Details on the Secretary of State website: ABSENTEE VOTING FOR THE 2020 PRIMARY ELECTION.

A 100-Year Minute

100 years ago, the 19^th Amendment was passed, giving women the right to vote. A Santa Fe woman, Nina Otero Warren, worked hard to see this happen.

Nina was born in the 1800’s to a wealthy Spanish American family. One of her close relatives became the Governor of the Territory of New Mexico. She had the best education a wealthy girl could have, first with private tutors and then attending a boarding school. But, because she was a girl, her education stopped at age 13.

She was expected to marry young and take care of her home and family. Working for a political cause was unthinkable. Nina had other ideas. Living in Santa Fe at the time, she was instrumental in involving influential Spanish American women and men in the suffrage issue which was critical to New Mexico’s legislature ratifying the 19^th Amendment – the 32^nd state to do so.

The 2020 Primary Voter Guide is Here!

For the 2020 primary, we have an online Voter Guide: VOTE411 New Mexico Primary Voter Guide.

Enter an address to see all the races that will be on your ballot in this election, information on candidates and where they stand on the issues.

The Los Alamos and Santa Fe Leagues have also published printed Voter Guides for the primary. For the general election, all four local Leagues will publish Voter Guides in addition to the online VOTE411 guide.

Current Activities

The League is leading the Fair Districts for New Mexico Project. The goal is to promote fair and transparent redistricting for New Mexico following the 2020 census. Please visit the Fair Districts web site for updates.

The 2020 Census is also of critical importance to New Mexico. We'll be working to get every New Mexican counted. Read about it on our 2020 Census page.

For more ongoing activities, see our Programs page.

Logo of La Palabra

Latest La Palabra

The Spring 2020 La Palabra (PDF, 5.0 Mb) newsletter is out.

Call to LWVNM Council; 100th Anniversary festivities; Judicial Selection Study Committee report; Fair Districts NM; Spent nuclear fuel update; National Votes for Women Trail; VOTE411: electronic and statewide! Local League News.

Keep up to date by reading La Palabra!

For issues of La Palabra dating back to 2005, see the Newsletters page.

Recent LWVNM News

League Urges Absentee Ballot Vote

April 23, 2020:

The League of Women Voters of New Mexico is urging the public to vote absentee in the June 2 Primary Election.

In compliance with the recent NM Supreme Court decision, absentee ballot applications will be mailed directly to all New Mexico voters who are registered as Republicans, Democrats or Libertarians. Those applications must be filled out and returned to your county clerk in order to receive an absentee ballot for the primary election. Only those who are registered with one of the three major parties are eligible to vote in the primary.

You can also go to nmvote.org now to request an absentee ballot. Absentee ballots will be mailed out beginning on May 5.

More info: Press release: League Urges Absentee Ballot Vote.

NM Supreme Court Rules: League of Women Voters Reaction

April 15, 2020:

We are disappointed that in the current public health crisis the NM Supreme Court decided against granting the petition from the county clerks, which asked that they be allowed to conduct the 2020 primary election as an all-mail election supplemented by service centers.

The League of Women Voters believes the absentee ballot application process creates an unnecessary obstacle to voting by mail, which lands hard on disabled, elderly, rural, low literacy, and low-income voters who are disproportionately people of color.

Common Cause, League of Women Voters and Four Other Groups File Amicus Brief with NM Supreme Court in Support of Modified Mail-in Primary

April 9, 2020:

Common Cause New Mexico, the League of Women Voters of New Mexico, NM Native Vote, the ACLU of NM, Disability Rights NM and Santo Domingo Pueblo today filed an amicus curiae (friend of the court) brief with the NM Supreme Court in support of the New Mexico County Clerks and the Secretary of State’s petition to hold the June Primary using a set of vote-by-mail, mobile voting and in-person ballot-drop protocols. The protocols, proposed by the state’s voting officials, will allow for the continued implementation of social distancing requirements and the extended stay-at-home order mandated by the Governor on March 23 and extended to May 1 on April 5.

The clock is ticking as overseas ballots must be sent out by April 18, with printing scheduled to begin April 14, according to the Secretary of State.

Standard in-person voting would force the people of New Mexico to choose between their safety and the exercise of their franchise. More details: Common Cause, League of Women Voters and Four Other Groups File Amicus Brief with NM Supreme Court in Support of Modified Mail-in Primary.

100th Celebration

February 6, 2020:

The 100th Anniversary celebration at the Roundhouse was packed, with speeches by the Governor and Secretary of State, proclamations by the House and Senate, cake and lemonade. A good time was had by all.

Many local Leagues still have celebrations planned for later in the year; check your local League's website.

LWVNM Proposed SNF Storage Advocacy Statement

December 11, 2019:

LWVNM has been studying the proposed storage of Spent Nuclear Fuel (SNF) from the 99 domestic commercial nuclear reactors in two proposed Consolidated Interim Storage Facilities (CISF) in Southeast NM and the TX/NM border since 2017.

The study has produced a Proposed SNF Storage Advocacy Statement which was approved by the LWVNM Board in its November meeting, and has been submitted to LWVUS for approval.

New Redistricting Project

August 1, 2019:

The LWVNM has received a generous grant grant to lead an effort to ensure fair and transparent redistricting following the 2020 census. As part of that effort we have created a separate web site. Please visit fairdistrictsnm.org. The site is under development but already has links to valuable resources on redistricting.

NM should work now to implement redistricting reform

July 30, 2019:

Guest column in the Albuquerque Journal by Hannah Burling, President, LWVNM: NM should work now to implement redistricting reform.

For older news items, see the LWVNM News Archive.

How to Contact Your Legislator

Want to connect with your legislator? See our page on Contact Info for New Mexico Legislators.

Want to reach NM’s Congressional delegation? The Congressional toll-free number is 1-866-727-4894 . Just ask for your representative or senator. Please remember that you are speaking as an individual and not for the League.