Update: October 5, 2020
It sure is great to drive around town and see so many people who feel so strongly about the election process. Our community is covered with signs showing support for candidates at the local, state and national level. This is a great display of free speech. It also serves as a good reminder that our neighbors have every right to put up signs in their yard – even if it is for a candidate we do not like.
Of course, the most important responsibility of the election cycle is the actual voting process. Carlsbad historically has a high turnout at the polls, but we could always do better. In two of our recent elections, we’ve had City Council positions determined by a difference of a single vote, so your vote really does make a difference.
Oct. 6 is a very important date in terms of voting in this year’s election. Voter registration closes on Oct. 6, and anyone who would like to register to vote or make changes will need to do so by that date. In person early voting also begins Oct. 6 at the Eddy County Clerk’s Office in Carlsbad 325 S. Main Street) and Artesia (602 S. First Street). Absentee applications are due to the Clerk’s Office by Oct. 20. Please contact the Eddy County Clerk’s Office at (575) 885-3383 or (575) 746-2541 if you have any questions.
COVID Update: There were 16 new positive COVID-19 cases for Eddy County announced on both Friday and Saturday by the New Mexico Department of Health. Sunday was a better day in that only 5 new Eddy County positives were announced. This puts us at a total of 911 total cases, 421 recoveries and 15,798 tests conducted. One additional COVID-19 related death, a resident of a local nursing home, was also sadly announced on Friday.
In an opinion piece sent out over the weekend, Eddy County Manager Allen Davis encouraged residents who may have some symptoms of COVID 19 or who may have been in contact with someone who has tested positive to make an appointment to be tested themselves. Davis notes that the “positivity rate” is one of the factors being used to decide what schools get to open.
“It is more probable that by increasing the total number of tests collected, the outcome will show an increase in the number of negative test results, thereby reducing the positivity rate,” he wrote. “If we do not do that as a community, we’ll continue to see the same outcome that we have experienced over the last couple weeks, which is not the desired result, including, not allowing our children to return to school.”
Davis suggests coming together as a community to hopefully make a change and turn the tide in our favor. We will continue to work closely with Eddy County and our school district in hopes of doing so.
Sincerely,
Carlsbad Mayor Dale Janway