Senator David Gallegos
Over the last month, the Secretary of State’s office sent more than 105,000 voter registration invitations, known as Eligible But Unregistered (EBU) mailers, to residents across New Mexico. This marks a significant increase from the 49,220 mailers issued in 2022—an alarming rise that raises serious concerns about the recipients of these invitations. As your Senator, I believe transparency in our voting system is paramount, yet current practices are leading us in the opposite direction.
One of the most concerning aspects of this situation is the lack of transparency in the government’s handling of this issue. In response to my request under the New Mexico Inspection of Public Records Act (IPRA), the Governor’s office claimed they had “no records” related to my inquiries on this matter. Additionally, several other IPRA requests from officials and citizens have been denied, which only deepens suspicions about the shadowy transactions that appear to be taking place around voter registration.
The Secretary of State’s office, by its own admission, lacks the ability to verify citizenship status on voter applications. This means that thousands of these EBU mailers could very well be reaching non-citizens—both those here legally and illegally. This is not hypothetical; I have spoken with constituents and seen evidence that individuals who are not eligible to vote have received these cards. For instance, five mailers were recently sent to the same address in Roswell, several addressed to individuals who cannot be found on any known social media or local records, suggesting they may be foreign nationals. One individual on this list even appears to have a felony immigration case in the El Paso District.
The data used to create these EBU mailers originates from the New Mexico Motor Vehicle Division (MVD) records, which, as we’ve learned, are not foolproof. The MVD has confirmed that criminal elements, such as cartels, have exploited weaknesses in the system by using falsified leases and other fraudulent documents to obtain driver’s licenses for individuals who are not legally eligible. This flawed database is what the Secretary of State’s office depends on to determine who should receive EBU mailers.
The Secretary of State herself has acknowledged that her office has no national database to verify citizenship and relies on applicants’ self-affirmation. This self-reporting approach, however, is vulnerable to error and abuse, especially when non-citizens, who may not fully understand the eligibility requirements, are receiving unsolicited invitations to register.
New Mexico’s current voter registration program already permits people to opt in when interacting with agencies like the MVD, which has shown itself unable to reliably screen out non-citizens. But with the passage of NMSA 1-4-47, effective July 1, 2025, the problem could worsen. The law will automatically register people when they interact with state agencies unless they choose to opt-out, potentially increasing the number of non-citizens mistakenly entered into our voter rolls. This new opt-out program risks compounding issues that are already affecting voter registration accuracy today.
For now, our focus should be on the immediate challenge: identifying and rectifying the errors in the current EBU mailers. I am calling on the Secretary of State to suspend further mailings until we can verify the eligibility of the data and address the vulnerabilities that allowed these unverified solicitations to reach non-citizens. The refusal to answer IPRA requests only adds to the perception of secrecy, undermining public trust at a time when transparency is essential.
This isn’t about politics; it’s about protecting the integrity of New Mexico’s elections and restoring public trust. We should be doing everything in our power to ensure that only eligible, verified voters receive these registration solicitations. The citizens of New Mexico deserve a voting process that is fair, transparent, and above all, secure.
