The Santa Fe County canvassing board unanimously approved the canvass of the 2025 regular local election after County Clerk Clark presented results, outreach efforts and operational changes and flagged late or missing absentee ballots tied to postal‑service deliveries.

Clerk Clark told the board the county saw higher turnout than in prior regular local elections and credited outreach, candidate interest and targeted programs for increases. Clark said the county sent about 7,169 permanent absentee ballots and received roughly 5,000 back, and reported a roughly 51% cure rate on ballots flagged for missing or mismatched information. “We were able to finish at, 10:20,” Clark said of the county’s vote‑counting timeline, adding the county transmitted ranked‑choice rounds to the Secretary of State shortly thereafter.

Why it matters: the canvass is the formal step that clears the county to certify results. Clark said operational changes — including a pilot vote‑by‑appointment option, ADA mapping for polling sites, an assistive‑technology web page, expanded Democracy 101 civic education and advisory boards for youth, disability, Spanish‑language and veterans constituencies — helped improve access and turnout.

Clerk Clark also described technical and logistical work to improve accuracy. The office has refined a hand‑tally procedure (developed with a vendor identified as Robust) to handle damaged ballots and write‑ins; Clark said past hand tallies recorded an approximate 4% error rate and that new procedures have reduced that error in targeted use cases. Clark said the county will seek voting‑system certification board review so some of those processes can support faster uploads and reduce manual spreadsheet entry.

Postal delivery problems drew sustained attention. Clark said the county reported a number of ballots that voters told the clerk’s office they never received; she estimated about 400 such cases in this cycle and said the office has submitted complaints to the Postal Service. In the exchange, Commissioner Hank Hughes and Commissioner Justin Green pressed the clerk about reissue procedures, counts of late deliveries and the volume of complaints; Clark described proactive outbound calls to voters, reissuance when allowed and individual tickets filed with the Postal Service for affected envelopes.

Transparency work on ranked‑choice voting was another theme: Clark said the county livestreamed ranking rounds in collaboration with the county CMO office so candidates and the public could follow the process at the same time the clerk’s office did.

Board action: Commissioner Justin Green moved to approve the canvassing results; Commissioner Kekari Stone seconded. The board approved the canvass on an aye voice vote and the chair announced the motion carried. The clerk said the county will proceed to certification and further administrative steps required before results are final.

The board also approved the meeting agenda and the minutes of the April 8, 2025 canvassing board meeting earlier in the session and then adjourned.