Santa Fe County's election staff is working overtime to fill voter requests for absentee ballots.

"I want to assure voters that we are very skilled in this office and we are not slacking one bit," County Clerk Valerie Espinoza said Monday. "We're here till 8 p.m. every night. We have 10 additional people helping us and then some, and current staff is also devoting time to get these in the mail."

Chief Deputy Clerk Denise Lamb said the county has mailed 15,696 absentee ballots since Oct. 7. "We still have a couple thousand to do," Lamb said. "We expect them to go out by Wednesday or Thursday."

Espinoza said new requests for absentee ballots are coming in daily. She said the legal deadline for a county clerk to mail out an absentee ballot is Oct. 31. "But I'm telling people just to go upstairs and vote (in person at county offices)," she said.

Completed ballots — whether mailed or hand delivered — must be received in the clerk's office by the close of business on Nov. 4 to be counted.

Absentee ballots can be hand delivered to the clerk's office by the voter or a family member or caregiver, according to Lamb.

Voters can check on the status of an absentee ballot request on the clerk's page of the Santa Fe County Web site, www.santafecounty.org.

People who request absentee ballots but don't receive them before Election Day can still vote at the polls by signing a waiver of their absentee ballot. The waiver can be obtained the day before the election at the clerk's office or at the polls on voting day.

Espinoza said people with medical or travel emergencies who need to get a waiver before that can request one at the clerk's office.

Lamb said Santa Fe County voters are fond of voting early and by mail.

In the 2004 presidential election, about 60 percent of the 94,634 registered voters in Santa Fe County voted early or absentee, according to Lamb. Judging by the steady flow of requests, Espinoza said, many will vote absentee in this election.

As of Monday, about 6,000 people had voted early in person.

Since 2004, the number of registered voters in the county has swelled by about 2,842 — to a total of 97,476 registered voters.

Contact Phaedra Haywood at 986-3068 or phaywood@sfnewmexican.com.