One out of four New Mexico voters can't vote in primary elections. Independent and minor party voters are not allowed to vote in major party primaries under current state law.
During the 2024 presidential election, in exit polling, 34% of voters nationwide stated they were independents, compared with 32% stating they were Democrats and 34% stating they were Republican. January 2025 New Mexico voter registration shows 24.9% registered independent or minor party, 42.3% Democrat, 32.2% Republican, and 1.1% Libertarian.
New Mexico is one of ten states with fully closed primaries. Here are some things we know about closed primaries – those where members of minor parties and independents (or in New Mexico "decline to state" voters) are barred from voting in the partisan primary elections of the major parties (that is, the Democratic and Republican primaries).
First, closed primaries deliver more politically extreme candidates to the general election. We see this cycle after cycle. Primary elections become contests of orthodoxy. Rather than offering voters personal viewpoints and ideas that solve the problems facing their communities, primary candidates too often compete to be the most progressive or the most conservative, ignoring the actual needs or preferences of their voters. See: New Mexico's 2022 GOP gubernatorial primary.
Closed primaries are specifically excluding a significant number of taxpayers from participating fully in the public election process that is the right of every citizen. Publicly funded elections should not be closed to a quarter of the electorate. This is, quite simply, voter suppression. If partisan primaries are to be closed, the individual state party organizations should be responsible for paying for them, not taxpayers.
Because of the two elements described above, closed primaries discourage turnout during the general election. The final candidates are more polarized in their views, a significant driver in many independent and minor party voters' decisions to leave the major parties, and these voters have already been shut out of the first half of the election process. The pattern of voter suppression continues into the general election cycle.
The topic of opening New Mexico's primary elections is back at the Legislature this year via Senate Bill (SB) 16. Sponsored by Sen. Natalie Figueroa (D-Bernalillo), Senate Majority Leader Peter Wirth (D-Santa Fe), Rep. Kathleen Cates (D-Bernalillo & Sandoval), Rep. Cristina Parajon (D-Bernalillo), and Rep. Angelica Rubio (D-Doña Ana), SB16 is fairly straightforward. If you are an independent or minor party voter, you can request a major party ballot at the polls during the primary.
You can only pick one. If you belong to a major party, you get that party's ballot. That's it.
Republican opponents will say this will invite fraud or that people should join a major party. I have lived in a state that had nonpartisan voter registration, Virginia, and it worked just fine. I asked for a Republican ballot in the primary, was given one, and George W. Bush, not Donald Duck, carried the state and nothing was amiss (in 2000, I voted for John McCain in the GOP primary, by the way).
Democrats who oppose it will maintain that it will dilute major party registration. Some may point to the Sapien amendment, whereby independents and minor party voters and temporarily register with a major party on Election Day to vote in that primary and then change back afterward.
The Sapien amendment is an administrative headache and is designed to capture more partisan registrations. It runs completely counter to the individual right to choose one's political affiliation. It was widely promoted by the Secretary of State in the 2022 primary and less than 5% of affected voters availed themselves of the opportunity.
I have been writing in support of open primaries for years now. This is the first column I have written on the subject since becoming an independent myself. I don't feel any different; allowing all registered voters to vote in all elections is a basic right.
There really isn't room for disagreement here. There wasn't when I was an active member of the Republican Party, and there isn't now. All voters are entitled to full access to the voting process. Beyond this basic issue of access for all, New Mexican voters could see additional benefits like increased competition, reduced polarization and issue-focused (rather than party-driven) candidates.
Please contact your legislators and tell them you support SB 16. If you are an independent or minor-party voter, contacting your legislators could make the difference whether you're voting in June 2026 or waiting until November.
Merritt Hamilton Allen is a PR executive and former Navy officer. She appeared regularly as a panelist on NM PBS and is a frequent guest on News Radio KKOB. A Republican for 36 years, she became an independent upon reading the 2024 Republican platform. She lives amicably with her Democratic husband north of I-40 where they run one head of dog, and one of cat. She can be reached at
