More than 2,200 in county voted early

More than 2,200 people in Quay County cast votes early in the presidential election, which is in line with similar elections, reported the county's clerk.

After early voting ended Saturday, a total of 1,914 registered voters in the county had submitted their ballots, County Clerk Ellen White said. More than 300 also sent back absentee ballots.

The outcome of Tuesday's Election Day was after the Quay County Sun's deadline, though breaking-news updates will be posted at qcsunonline.com.

Final unofficial results also will be posted at the New Mexico Secretary of State's website at election results.sos.nm.gov.

White described the number of county residents voting early as "normal" compared to other general elections in the last 20-plus years she's worked at the office.

She said the 2016 election, counting absentee ballots, saw more than 1,900 in the county vote early. Two other presidential elections saw more than 1,800 vote early.

An outlier was 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic. The New Mexico Supreme Court, mindful of crowds that might cause the virus to spread, ordered all county clerks to send absentee ballot applications to all registered voters.

As a result, nearly 800 people in Quay County voted absentee that year, and more than 2,100 voted early. Fewer than 1,000 people in the county actually voted on Election Day that year.

Nationwide, nearly 70 million people voted early before Election Day, with a few states reporting record numbers.

White said her office encountered no problems with electioneering or other issues during the early voting period.

"No horror stories," she said.

She said the presidential election race between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump has attracted the most interest from local voters by far.

"We've got contested local races I'm sure the local people are in, but I think the majority of people are interested in president," she said.

White said one new wrinkle her staff is dealing with is same-day registration. She said 73 people newly registered to vote the same day they voted early. The state legislature allowed same-day registration two years ago.

"There are people that have never registered to vote. They've lived here all their lives," she said.

White said a few early voters voiced distrust of the election system after Trump has repeatedly claimed, without evidence, that a victory was stolen from him in 2020.

"We get a few little crude comments: 'I don't know why I'm voting. Y'all won't count my ballots anyway. How long is it going to take you to change all of our votes?' Stuff like that," she said.

On Saturday, White said six people had signed up to be challengers or watchers at Election Day precincts in the county.