Los Alamos County Clerk Certifies June Primary Candidates, Maez Not Qualified

Marshall Maez, who announced a Democratic bid for Los Alamos County Council, will not appear on the June 2, 2026 primary ballot after failing to submit enough verified petition signatures to meet the County Clerk's threshold, according to the certified candidate list released by the Los Alamos County Clerk's Office on March 17.

County Clerk Michael Redondo confirmed that Maez chose to submit a list of petitioners on filing day, March 10, rather than take the alternative route provided by law: paying a $50 fee to appear on the ballot. That choice placed the burden entirely on signature verification. Maez needed 20 verified signatures as outlined in the Secretary of State's election guide, but several of his submitted signatures were disqualified for a variety of reasons, leaving him below the required threshold.

The Secretary of State's election guide warns candidates directly about this risk. "It is a standard 'best practice' to collect 20-30 percent more signatures than required. Signatures are frequently disqualified if a voter is not registered in the correct district or if their address doesn't match their registration exactly," the guide states. A third common disqualification applies when a signer is not registered in the same political party as the candidate, a particular hazard in a Democratic primary where only registered Democrats' signatures would count.

The Clerk's Office did not release the exact number of signatures Maez submitted or how many were disqualified. The precise breakdown of disqualification reasons also remains unknown.

Maez's omission came to light after reporters noticed his name was absent from the certified list published Tuesday morning. Attempts to reach Maez and his campaign representative for comment were unsuccessful as of the time of initial reporting.

The certified list sets the field for the June 2, 2026 primary. Whether Maez has any remaining avenue to challenge the Clerk's verification decisions or otherwise seek a place on the ballot has not been confirmed.