More than 800 teens in New Mexico register to vote for June primary

Hundreds of teens are registering to vote in New Mexico now that a new state law allows 17-year-olds who will be 18 the day of the general election to vote in the June primary.

More than 800 teens in the state have registered to vote in June, with more than half registering as Democrats. The totals as of Wednesday include 459 Democrats, 210 Republicans and 193 registered as Independents or members of a minor party.

Dona Ana County is seeing an impact from the new law as well. According to the county clerk’s office, 95 17-year-olds are eligible to vote in the primaries so far. 35 are registered as Republicans, 60 as Democrats. That number is similar to voters already registered in Dona Ana County, which has 47,533 registered Democrats, 28,777 registered Republicans and 3,338 registered Independents.

Early voting for the 17-year-olds starts May 18, when the new law goes into affect.