During a break, Santa Fe County Clerk Valerie Espinoza stood before the crowd at Sunday's candidate forum and answered what had already been a popular question: Can I cast a straight-ticket ballot and still make an exception in one of the races?

Yes, Espinoza said.

She has received "lots" of questions like that, she said, and by far the context has been the Public Regulation Commission race between Democrat Jerome Block Jr. and Green Party member Rick Lass.

Voters can fill a circle for Democrat or Republican at the top of their ballot, indicating they back all the candidates in either party.

But, Espinoza said, voters can also go down the sheet to make exceptions by filling a circle next to a candidate from a different party.

That wasn't the case until recently. "Prior to having the paper ballot, straight ticket meant straight ticket — period," Espinoza said, noting the previous touch-screen voting machines didn't allow exceptions.

The County Clerk's Office has been inundated in recent weeks from callers and e-mailers asking a range of questions, from where they must vote on Nov. 4 to where the can vote early.

But each day, about 25 to 50 questions deal with the Block-Lass race. "People are curious as to how (the ballot) works now," she said.

The office has also been swamped with voter registrations — some 2,400 last week and 2,000 the week before, Espinoza said. The registration deadline is 5 p.m. Tuesday, although her office will accept until Friday mail-in registrations that are post-marked Tuesday.

Also on Tuesday, early, in-person voting starts at the County Clerk's Office, 102 Grant Ave., and additional early voting sites will open Oct. 18.