Election ballots headed out next week

Next week, Quay County voters in the Tucumcari school district will receive in their mailboxes the ballots for the county's first-ever mail-in election.

An estimated 4,400 registered voters will receive ballots in the mail about Jan. 8. From there, they can decide whether to renew the school district's two-mill tax for capital improvements. Ballots must be returned by mail or to the Quay County clerk's office at 300 S. Third St. in Tucumcari by Feb. 5.

The school district, which will cover the election's cost, received a preliminary estimate of $5,500 for the two-mill vote. That doesn't include the cost of returned and non-delivered mail, which would be another 47 cents apiece.

About five days before the Feb. 5 election, officials from the board of elections will begin processing ballots, County Clerk Ellen White said. She said she anticipates vote totals will be available at the usual 7 p.m. on Election Day.

White said she wasn't sure how a mail-in vote would affect turnout in Quay County. Other counties in New Mexico have held mail-in elections, she said, but those were in much more populous areas that aren't comparable. Nor is White certain how many ballots will be returned as non-deliverable.

White said the mail-in election will be a learning experience for everyone in her office.

"It's going to be a new ball of wax," she said. "We're going to have fun trying to do it."

The two-mill question states the property tax can be used for erecting or remodeling buildings, buying property or improving school grounds, maintenance of buildings, buying activity vehicles, buying computers and software, and buying and installing technology improvements.

According to the school district, the two-mill generates about $223,000 each year.

Those who live in the school district who haven't registered to vote still can do so before Jan. 8.

White also said registered voters in the district who don't receive a ballot in the mail around that time should call her office at 575-461-0510.