SANTA FE, N.M. – A legal fight over petition paperwork is headed to the New Mexico Supreme Court as Republican state Rep. Rebecca Dow seeks to remain on the ballot for House District 38, a race that currently lists no other candidates for the primary.

The core of the dispute concerns the format of the signatures Dow submitted to qualify. State election officials say she used screenshots rather than the formally required documents, which they argue do not meet the Election Code’s standards for verification. Dow counters that the state’s online portal accepted the submissions and that a technical problem in the system explains the irregularity.

The lawsuit that prompted the challenge was brought by former Democratic Rep. Tara Jaramillo, who previously held the District 38 seat before losing to Dow in 2024 and is not a candidate this year. The complaint contends the screenshots lack necessary address information that election officials need to confirm and, if necessary, contest signatures.

A district court judge agreed with that view and removed Dow from the June primary ballot earlier this month, leaving the contest without any listed candidates. Dow has appealed that ruling, saying the Sierra County clerk accepted the printed screenshots and that she followed guidance from the Secretary of State’s office. She maintains the online system automatically verifies and files petition signatures with local officials.

Court filings show Dow collected roughly twice the number of signatures required to qualify, but they also indicate all of those signatures were gathered through the state’s online process this cycle, with no paper petitions available as a fallback. Attorneys for Jaramillo argue in court papers that regardless of the portal’s behavior, Dow did not comply with the legal filing requirements.

The state Supreme Court is scheduled to hear arguments from both sides on Tuesday; no date has been set for a final decision. With the primary election about six weeks away, the case has moved quickly and its outcome will determine whether voters in District 38 see a candidate on their June ballot. Party leaders have weighed in: Republican officials called the disqualification politically motivated and vowed to fight it, while Democrats emphasized that ballot access rules apply equally to all candidates and said failing to provide required voter information is a clear violation of election law.