Section 49-8-2 - Elections; right to vote.
49-8-2. Elections; right to vote.
A. On the first Monday of April of each alternate year, an election shall be held after the trustees have given at least seven days notice thereof by posting not less than five notices in conspicuous places within the grant, which shall include the post offices at Truchas, Cordova, formerly known as Quemado, and Chimayo. Except as provided in Chapter 49, Article 8 NMSA 1978, the election shall be conducted as nearly as practical in the same manner as provided in the Election Code [Chapter 1 NMSA 1978] for the conduct of general elections, provided that the board of trustees of the Nuestra Senora del Rosario, San Fernando y Santiago land grant and the secretary of the board shall perform the functions designated in that code for the county commission and the county clerk, respectively, and provided further that no registration shall be required. Official ballots for voting shall contain the names of not less than five owners of interests in the grant. The five persons receiving the highest number of votes shall be elected as trustees for the ensuing two years.
B. At all elections, every owner of an undivided interest in the grant shall be entitled to one vote. The trustees in charge of the election shall prepare from the best information obtainable a list of all owners of interest in the grant and shall deliver the list to their successors. Any person claiming to be the owner of an interest whose claim is not admitted by the trustees may file with them an oath in writing, stating that he is an owner and giving as fully as he can the chain of title to his interest. If his claim is substantiated by the oaths in writing of two owners of such interests, he shall be permitted to vote at the election.