New Mexico’s Automatic Voter Registration will create big problems

In 2023 and against the wishes of most conservatives (including the Rio Grande Foundation) New Mexico’s Democrat-controlled Legislature passed “automatic voter registration.” The new system under which people are registered when they head to the DMV or deal with nearly any other government agency (like signing up for SNAP) took effect on July 1, 2025.

Here is the experience of one RGF friend:

I needed to renew my driver’s license yesterday so I went to my normal vendor on 4th street.  It was a simple renewal, new pic, eye test, but at the end of the process I was required to register to vote – I saw no option to opt out, I didn’t see a button that said “no thanks, already registered”.  I even queried the employee and said, I’m already registered, why must I fill all this out?  She didn’t have an answer.

The process is all on-line and you sign the vertical screen with your finger – good luck matching signatures with that system down the line.

So, presumably, I’m now registered as a voter twice.

This could be solved with a “No thanks, I’m already registered” button, but if it was there, I missed it.  I really don’t think I had an option…

So, existing inaccuracies in New Mexico’s voter rolls will be worsened as already registered voters may be registered under duplicate names or with slight variances in their names and addresses…and to what end? So a bunch of people who can’t be bothered to register to vote will be registered whether they want to or not.