Promises Made, Promises Kept
When I first ran for the office of Santa Fe County Clerk,
I made four promises to voters.
Increase voter participation.
Make voting more accessible.
Bolster voter confidence that our elections are fair.
Use technology effectively to make the County Clerk’s office more user friendly for all.
So...
Where Are We?
Santa Fe County is culturally diverse. This diversity hasn’t always been reflected in our voter pool. Since the day I took office, staff has been working to ensure inclusivity. Using targeted award-winning voter outreach, we engage differently-abled voters, tribal communities, high school students reaching voting age, and senior citizens to expand our voter base and increase the diversity among voters. Our efforts are winning results – Santa Fe County now has the highest large county voter turnout in New Mexico. Making it easier to vote is key to increasing turnout. Today, more people vote by mail or absentee ballot than ever. During my tenure, our office initiated same day voter registration at every polling site on election day. We also installed permanent dropoff ballot boxes, the most per capita of any county in NM. Santa Fe County is also the only county to provide drive up ballot boxes so that voters can drop off ballots without ever leaving their cars. And our county is the first to put GPS tracking on all ballot boxes so that we know where every box is at any given time. We also launched a text-based ballot tracking system that allows voters to get updates on their absentee ballots, so they know when their ballots are received in the County Clerk’s office. This, along with GPS tracking, supports voter confidence. Among other things we’ve done to increase voter access is to create an easy to remember URL - SantaFe.vote, with a responsive design layout and maps to polling sites. This URL also displays wait times for polling sites to ensure voters can quickly vote in Santa Fe County. We’ve also added a help desk during election season, staffed with bilingual people, so we can easily handle the volume of voters who call our office with questions. From day one in office, my staff and I have worked to provide more polling locations, greater access to those locations by the differently-abled, and have increased the number of workers to handle the higher number of voters going to the polls. I’m also proud that today, with improved procedures and operational efficiency, aided by hard work and commitment from our staff, the Santa Fe County Clerk’s office is able to start reporting election results immediately after the polls close.
It's About MoreThan The Ballot
Our Santa Fe County Clerk’s office has also made improvements beyond voting. In the past two years we completed digitizing the remaining majority of real estate records, a project begun in 2004. We are now fully digital. The office has also launched an innovative online self-serve real estate document portal so constituents can access documents remotely at any time day or night. We've decreased backlogs in the office and cross trained our staff in probate, records and recording and elections. We overhauled the clerk’s website to be ADA and language compliant — a design that the county has copied for all of its web pages. We’ve also created a centralized email address clerk@santafecountynm.gov so that constituents can quickly receive a response to inquiries.
What AboutThe Future?
As your Santa Fe County Clerk, I have led a team that has transformed the clerk’s office, and I carry the responsibility of making sure that our democratic process remains fair and equal. To that end, I will work to ensure that Santa Fe continues to lead our state in modernization. Working with our County Commission, we have secured a brand new elections warehouse to support the increased legislative and procedural demands on elections operations. During my tenure, our legislature has given the Clerk’s office nearly two million dollars in capital outlay to renovate our new building and purchase state-of-the-art election equipment. We’re on track to complete this project at the beginning of 2025 to guarantee that we continue to lead in outreach, turnout and constituent convenience.
Support My Campaign
I am ready, able and energized to continue to serve you as Santa Fe County Clerk. I ask for your support. Your vote for my re-election is a commitment to our future, to making sure that Santa Fe continues to be inclusive, innovative and efficient.
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Clerk Katharine Clark
Santa Fe County Clerk Katharine Clark took office in 2021. With extensive experience in managing organizations and events, she hit the ground running, modernizing the election process and improving the voter experience.
After just her first two years in office, the Santa Fe County Clerk’s office is the most highly acclaimed Clerk’s office in New Mexico, having been honored by the Election Assistance Commission twice and won three National Association of Counties awards.
Santa Fe County continues to lead in posting election results quickly and is the highest turnout county among large New Mexico counties.
Clerk Clark has been a fierce supporter of voter protection legislation, testifying on behalf of several pieces of legislation that are now law in New Mexico.