Valencia County primary opens to more voters under new state system

Nearly 13,000 Valencia County voters who list no party or decline-to-state can now take part in the June primary without re-registering, a change that could put far more neighbors into the nomination contest than in past years.

New Mexico’s new semi-open primary system took effect July 1, 2025, and will be used for the first time in the 2026 Primary Election on Tuesday, June 2. Valencia County Chief Deputy Clerk Brenda Hume said the shift is intended to open the door for the county’s roughly 13,000 DTS or unaffiliated voters, many of whom would previously have been shut out of partisan primaries.

Under the new rules, voters who are not registered with a qualified major party may choose either a Democratic or Republican ballot at the polling place without changing their registration. Registered Democrats and Republicans will vote as they always have, and each will automatically receive that party’s ballot. The biggest change is for the large pool of unaffiliated voters in Valencia County, Los Lunas and Belen, who now have a direct say in which candidates advance in one of the county’s most watched elections.

The rules are stricter for voters registered with a minor party such as Libertarian or Green. They must change to a major party or to decline-to-state before the election, or use same-day registration at a polling location, if they want to vote in the primary. Once voting has started, voters already registered with one major party cannot switch to the other party’s primary. That makes the weeks before Election Day the critical window for anyone whose registration is out of date or whose party status no longer matches how they want to vote.

The Secretary of State’s office says online, mail and voter-agent registration for the June 2 primary closes on May 5, 2026. Early voting and same-day registration begin May 19. Voters can check registration, find polling locations, view sample ballots and request absentee ballots through the state’s voter portal.

Election workers are expected to help voters compare sample ballots from both parties before making a choice, because the system gives each voter only one chance to select a ballot once it is printed. That detail matters in a county where every primary vote can shape the general-election field, and where even a modest turnout shift among unaffiliated voters could change the outcome. The reform, backed in the 2025 Legislature by Sens. Natalie Figueroa, Peter Wirth, Kathleen Cates, Cristina Parajón and Angelica Rubio, marks a major change in who gets to help decide New Mexico’s nominees.