With less than a week before Election Day on Tuesday, Nov. 3, states across the U.S. are seeing record voter turnout in early and absentee voting, and ballots cast as of Oct. 28 had already exceeded the total voter turnout in 2016.
In New Mexico, early votes as of Oct. 28 had come to approximately 74.4% of the total votes cast in 2016, well-ahead of the national average of 53%, according to statistics from the U.S. Elections Project. Early voting in the state saw nearly 332,735 in-person votes with a week left until Election Day, and 265,739 of the 381,430 requested mail-in ballots returned.
Leonard Metildi, of Las Cruces, told the Southwest New Mexico News that he plans to vote in every race on the ballot this year. While the presidential race is important to him, he also has his eye on local races.
“The congressman, senator, our state representative and state senator: they’re all on the ballot,” Metildi said in the interview.
Metildi continued by saying that he believes this election is historically important.
“I think this is the most important election the country has faced since maybe the election of Lincoln,” he said. “It’s a choice – a stark choice – between a representative democracy with a Constitution that puts the individual first, and the government’s there to protect his rights, versus socialism. I don’t think you could find a starker difference.”
In choosing who will defend the values important to him, Metildi said he looks for the values displayed in the actions and words of those who are running for office.
“Fidelity to the Constitution, controlling illegal immigration, adhering as much as possible to free-market economics, keeping taxes as low as possible, reducing regulations, allowing the people to have their freedom and liberty,” Metildi said
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