ALBUQUERQUE – New Mexico officials say voters who show up at polling places to register to vote on Nov. 2 for municipal elections will be out of luck.

This year, New Mexico began allowing voters to register or update their registration immediately before casting their ballot on Election Day. That same-day registration was available for a special congressional election in June, but it won’t be in next month’s election, KUNM reported.

Same-day registration is always available during the early voting period at county clerk’s offices and at additional sites in some counties. However, offering same-day registration on Election Day itself requires approval from the Voting System Certification Committee and the Secretary of State’s Office decided not to make that request after getting feedback from participating counties.

Mandy Vigil, elections director with the Secretary of State’s Office, told a panel of lawmakers last month that her office made the request for June’s congressional election as a pilot program. She described it as successful, noting that nearly 2% of voters in that election used the service.

Nonetheless, the Secretary of State’s Office is working on some technical updates, including improvements to the County Clerks Portal, fixing a software bug and improving email notifications. Vigil said the office will present its plan to the certification committee before the 2022 primary.