
By Julia Goldberg | Editor-in-Chief
Happy Friday, everyone! This weekend marks two important events: Halloween and the end of early voting. If you’d like to cast a ballot before Tuesday’s Nov. 3 Election Day, Saturday marks your final chance. We’ll be out and about looking for costumed voters (and non-costumed voters, as well). Not sure where to vote? Here’s a link to find your early and Election Day polling spots, and to peruse your ballot. Speaking of perusing, you’ll find a link below to our Voter Guide to help you parse candidates and ballot measures. You’ll also find a smattering of stories about the election and myriad other topics below, and even more online at sourcenm.com. Thanks for reading!

Bernalillo County Clerk Michelle Kavanaugh, pictured above outside a polling place May 5, 2026, told Source NM on Oct. 29, 2026, that the county is expecting roughly 10 federal monitors on Election Day. (Photo by Danielle Prokop/Source NM)
Bernalillo County expecting 10 USDOJ monitors on Election Day
Source’s Patrick Lohmann reports that Bernalillo County expects 10 monitors from the United States Department of Justice on Election Day. The USDOJ announced this week that it intends to send 1,000 election monitors to polling locations in all 50 states on Nov. 3, marking an expansion of its previous election monitoring efforts. Third party groups and political parties also will be acting as election watchers.

Officials from the New Mexico Outdoor Equity Fund requested additional funds during an interim legislative committee this week. Above: Mesa Prieta Petroglyph Project summer youth interns build archaeology skills alongside traditional skills and knowledge. (Photo courtesy of New Mexico Outdoor Recreation Division)
New Mexico outdoor recreation officials seek more funding to meet demand for youth programs
Officials for New Mexico’s outdoor youth grant program told lawmakers this week that at its current budget level, the program could only fund approximately half of the proposals during a recent grant cycle, and they hope to receive more funding during next year’s legislative session to meet growing demand. Source’s Matthew Mondschein reports on the state of New Mexico’s Outdoor Equity Fund.

The U.S. Department of Justice said guns, pictured here, were seized in Albuquerque, New Mexico in the country’s largest ever fentanyl bust in April, 2025 (Photo courtesy U.S. District Attorney’s Office, District of New Mexico)
New Mexico lawmakers revisit proposals to curb high levels of firearm crimes, trafficking
Source’s Joshua Bowling reports that New Mexico lawmakers on Thursday revisited legislative proposals to curb the state’s high rates of shootings and gun trafficking. They also heard from Everytown for Gun Safety advocates, who stressed the need for the Legislature to address New Mexico’s persistently high levels of gun crimes.

U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) announced legislation on Thursday that would impose royalties on companies seeking to extract hardrock minerals like uranium, which is what a Canadian company is seeking to do in Canjilon, N.M., pictured above. (Photo by Patrick Lohmann/Source NM)
New Mexico US Rep. Leger Fernández’s bill would require mining companies to pay royalties
U.S. Rep. Teresa Leger Fernández (D-N.M.) on Thursday announced legislation that would require companies extracting hardrock minerals like gold, silver and uranium to pay up to 10% in royalties, as well as crack down on foreign adversaries’ extraction of valuable minerals from the United States.
ICYMI
Thanks for reading!
We're reading (and gifting) a NYT story about an exhibition of Georgia O’Keeffe’s architectural paintings at Detroit Institute of Arts.
October 30, 2026 | 9 a.m.–4 p.m. | UNM School of Law
Join the New Mexico Law Review for discussions on rural and maternal healthcare, federal funding, and a potential state constitutional right to healthcare.
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