N.M. Stat. » N.M. Stat. / Chapter 1 / Article 20
New Mexico Statutes

N.M. Stat. § 1-20-22 (2026)

Violation of Election Code; general penalty.

✓ current as of May 2026
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If the Election Code [Chapter 1 NMSA 1978] does not impose a specific penalty for the
violation of a provision prohibiting a specific act, whoever knowingly commits such violation is
guilty of a petty misdemeanor.

History: 1953 Comp., § 3-20-20, enacted by Laws 1969, ch. 240, § 446.

                                          ANNOTATIONS

Burden is upon party attacking person's vote to prove it is illegal; the presumption that a
vote is legal must be overcome. Kiehne v. Atwood, 1979-NMSC-098, 93 N.M. 657, 604 P.2d
123.

Illegal voter may assert privilege against self-incrimination. — An illegal voter cannot be
required to testify if he claims his constitutional privilege against self-incrimination since voting
when not qualified subjects the voter to criminal sanctions. Kiehne v. Atwood, 1979-NMSC-098,
93 N.M. 657, 604 P.2d 123.

Am. Jur. 2d, A.L.R. and C.J.S. references. — 29 C.J.S. Elections § 353.
Notes of Decisions
Cited in 1 case, 1979–1979 · leading case: Kiehne v. Atwood, 604 P.2d 123 (N.M. 1979).
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Kiehne v. Atwood, 604 P.2d 123 (N.M. 1979). “§ 1-20-22, N.M.S.A.1978. Of course, the burden is upon the party attacking a person’s vote to prove that it is illegal.”
Annotations are extracted automatically from the opinions in the Syfert caselaw corpus and ranked by authority, recency, and treatment. Dots show Syfertize treatment of the citing case itself.