SANTA FE, N.M. (AP) — New Mexico's top election regulator said Thursday she is optimistic that an uncertified tally of votes can be accomplished statewide within one or two days after Election Day, amid a major shift toward voting by absentee ballots that take longer to tally.

Secretary of State Maggie Toulouse Oliver said counties that distribute at least 10,000 absentee ballots have begun the initial verification process for tallying returned ballots. Voters are now being urged to turn in absentee ballots by hand to avoid mail delays.

“I’m feeling optimistic that we should be able to get through the absentee vote count within a day or two after Election Day,” said Toulouse Oliver, a Democrat. “The real difference this year is that ... the volume of vote-by-mail ballots is going to be extensive and it is just a longer and more rigorous process.”

President Donald Trump has repeatedly warned of voting fraud without offering any evidence. Because of that, there are concerns that he will use delays in vote-counting to declare results illegitimate.

On Wednesday, Trump said he hopes courts will not allow states to “take a lot of time” after Nov. 3 to count votes.

New Mexico county clerks stop accepting absentee ballots at 7 p.m. on Election Day. That provides a more streamlined process than states, including the presidential campaign battleground of Pennsylvania, that will continue to accept ballots through Nov. 6.

In New Mexico, election officials and law enforcement agencies are on alert for acts of interference or intimidation at the polls, Toulouse Oliver said. Under state law, police agencies stay away from voting places unless called upon to avoid inadvertent intimidation or interference.

Out of about 384,000 absentee ballots requested by voters, 292,000 were submitted as of Thursday, state election officials said. Registered New Mexico voters can request absentee ballots for any reason.

More than 660,000 votes had been cast as of Thursday morning, closing in the 2008 high mark for participation of about 833,000. In-person early voting concludes Saturday, before polling locations open again on Election Day.

“We are on alert for any sort of acts of voter intimidation and any sort of activities that are going on in and around polling places that contributes either to the obstruction of (voting), bogging it down and making it more difficult, slowing up processes so people have to wait a longer time,” Toulouse Oliver said. “Our poll officials and county clerks are well aware of their responsibilities and duties in regard to keeping folks safe and to keeping just a calm and efficient process without threat of intimidation.”

The independent election monitoring group Common Cause has voiced concerns about the presence of pro-Trump vehicle caravans outside polling locations in Albuquerque, while Republican Party officials say a member of the Democratic Party in Alamogordo has been striking up uncomfortable and confrontational conversations with voters outside polling locations.

Separately, a lawsuit by the Republican Party was dismissed after security concerns were addressed at drop boxes for absentee ballots in Guadalupe and Taos counties. GOP officials used the lawsuit to insist that drop-off boxes for ballots be supervised or kept under video surveillance at all times.

Trump lost New Mexico in 2016 by 8 percentage points to Democrat Hillary Clinton, with 9% of ballots going to Libertarian presidential candidate Gary Johnson, a former governor of the state.

New Mexico is picking a new U.S. senator to succeed Democrat Tom Udall as he retires. Democratic U.S. Rep. Ben Ray Luján is vying for the seat against former television meteorologist Mark Ronchetti.

Republican Alexis Johnson is vying with Democrat Teresa Leger Fernandez for the 3rd Congressional District seat to succeed Luján.

A rematch is underway in a congressional swing district along the border with Mexico, where first-term U.S. Rep. Xochitl Torres Small is defending her seat against Republican former state legislator Yvette Herrell.