By KRWG News
New Mexico – Secretary of State Mary Herrera proposes to make confidential a public record about voters in hopes of protecting ballot secrecy for New Mexicans.
The agency says the proposed rule will lessen the chances that someone can determine which candidates a voter supported in an election.
New Mexicans can learn who someone voted for in certain precincts by comparing the canvass of election returns to the voter signature roster, which shows whether someone went to the polls on Election Day or voted early.
The secretary of state proposes to no longer allow the public to access the voter roster after Election Day in precincts where there's a risk of compromising ballot secrecy, such as when one person casts an absentee ballot in a precinct.
Copyright 2010 The Associated Press.