Doa Ana County’s early voting numbers could rival previous years

Doña Ana County might have only 10 percent of the registered voters in New Mexico, but the county is currently making up 20 percent of early voters, the clerk’s office confirmed.

“It wouldn’t surprise me if the national dialogue is driving a lot of the turnout that we’re seeing,” said Lindsey Bachman, Doña Ana County’s deputy county clerk.

As of Monday evening, close to 11,000 people in the county have voted, according to the clerk’s office. In the 2014 midterm elections, 40,000 people in the county voted.

That means Doña Ana County already has more than one quarter of 2014’s numbers with two weeks left to go until the general election.

“It’s our right as a citizen,” said Isaac Tarín, who voted early on Monday. “It’s our obligation, actually.”

“I was born here,” said Leslie Piper, who also voted. “This is my country. This is what we do. This is the game we play to decide who, what, when gets what.”

Until last Friday, Doña Ana County had more early voters than Bernalillo County, the largest county in the state, Bachman said.

“It’s really hard to understand why people get out and vote,” Bachman said. “It’s probably a combination of things. It’s the national conversation, it’s candidates, it’s issues.”

Early voting will last until November 3rd, the Saturday before the election, according to the clerk’s office. New Mexico’s general election is Tuesday, November 6th.