New Mexicans go to the polls

New Mexicans go to the polls – and photos tell the story

It was with some trepidation that I set out to make photographs of early election voting sites in and within striking distance of Santa Fe. So fraught with anxiety is this election that I anticipated that tensions would run high as people who were normally isolated in their political bubbles—and avoiding potential COVID infection—were coming together to perform a decidedly political act. But almost without exception, the people I found in lines at sites in Santa Fe, Española, Santa Cruz, Las Vegas, Los Alamos and Albuquerque were civil to a degree suggesting that they had shared my apprehension and were determined to behave politely.

It’s so easy to rant and rave and to demonize the “other,” when seated in front of a computer monitor or hunched over a cell phone. It occurred to me that maybe, just maybe, our diverse and polarized society may yet find a way to replace the blaring media discourse of mistrust and hate with civil dialogue. Election day will tell.

Temporary election worker Joseph Banar disinfects a voting booth at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center.

Voters cast their ballots in early voting at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center.

People wait in line for early voting at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center.

Debbie Shultz, Issac Shultz, Bud Shultz Sr. and Bud Shultz Jr. exit the Los Alamos Municipal Building after voting early in the 2020 election.

Carlitos Maes removes a respirator to speak to a fellow early voter in line at the San Miguel County Administration Complex in Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Dawn Kryder checks Amor Sena's temperature while Joelynne Sena sanitizes her hands, before early voting in the San Miguel County Clerk's office.

An elderly couple, who declined to provide their names, make their way to vote early at the San Miguel County Administration Complex in Las Vegas, New Mexico.

Tony Gallegos waits in line for early voting at the Bernalillo County Visitor Center in Albuquerque’s South Valley.

Voters lined up at a polling place in northeast Albuquerque.

A driver from Senior Star at Las Colinas Village in Albuquerque helps Paul Winn board the van after early voting in Albuquerque's Northeast Heights.

Eric Gutierrez walks through falling snow to vote early at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center.

Astrea Paz holds her daughter, Ciana, after voting early at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center.

Richie Roberts arrives at the Santa Fe Community Convention Center with his son, declaring: "I'm not complying with the mask mandate. I'm here to vote."

Rebecca Lynch helps her mother, Ester Jansen, put on a mask before entering the Bernalillo County Visitor and Cultural Center in Albuquerque's South Valley to vote.

Glenda, a poll worker in Española, waits to greet early voters at the Rio Arriba County Clerk's Election Warehouse in Española.

Ines Gutierrez leaves the polling place after voting early at the Rio Arriba County Clerk's Election Warehouse in Española.

Don J. Usner

Don J. Usner was born in Embudo, N.M., and has written and provided photos for several books, including The Natural History of Big Sur; Sabino’s Map: Life in Chimayó’s Old Plaza; Benigna’s Chimayó: Cuentos from the Old Plaza; Valles Caldera: A Vision for New Mexico’s National Preserve (winner of a Southwest Book Award); and Chasing Dichos through Chimayó (finalist for a 2015 New Mexico – Arizona Book Award). Don contributed a chapter and photographs to The Plazas of New Mexico (also a winner of Southwest Book Award), and writes for periodicals as well. His photographs were featured in the photography journal Lenswork and in an online blog of The New Yorker.

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New Mexicans go to the polls