§ NMSA 1978, § 1-7-2Qualification; removal; requalification

Qualification; removal; requalification.
A. To qualify as a political party in New Mexico, each political party through its governing
body shall adopt rules providing for the organization and government of that party and shall file
the rules with the secretary of state. Uniform rules shall be adopted throughout the state by the
county organizations of that party, where a county organization exists, and shall be filed with the
county clerks. At the same time the rules are filed with the secretary of state, the governing body
of the political party shall also file with the secretary of state a petition containing the hand-printed names, signatures, addresses of registration and counties of residence of at least one-half
of one percent of the total votes cast for the office of governor at the preceding general election who
declare by their signatures on the petition that they are voters of New Mexico and that they desire
the party to be a qualified political party in New Mexico. Blank petition forms shall be available at
any time from the secretary of state.
B. Each county political party organization may adopt supplementary rules insofar as they do
not conflict with the uniform state rules or do not abridge the lawful political rights of any person.
Such supplementary rules shall be filed with the county clerk and the secretary of state in the
same manner as other rules are filed.
C. A qualified political party shall cease to be qualified for the purposes of the Election Code
[Chapter 1 NMSA 1978] if two successive general elections are held without at least one of the
party's candidates on the ballot or if the total votes cast for the party's candidates for governor
or president of the United States, provided that the party has a candidate seeking election to either of these offices, in a general election do not equal at least one-half of one percent of the total
votes cast for the office of governor or president of the United States, as applicable. No later than
March 15 of an odd-numbered year, the secretary of state shall send notice of nonqualification to
the state chair of any political party that fails to remain qualified. The notice shall be delivered by
registered mail to the last known address of the state chair of the political party, and a copy shall
be kept in the secretary of state's file of parties qualified in New Mexico.
D. The secretary of state shall then notify all county clerks of the removal and nonqualification
of the political party and shall post the notice on the web site maintained by the secretary of state.
The secretary of state shall within forty-five days notify by mail all voters registered as members
of such party of the removal and nonqualification of the party.
E. To requalify, the party shall again comply with the provisions of the Election Code dealing
with filing requirements for political parties.