Today is the primary election – a day when voters will decide who will move on to the General Election in November. Only one race is contested in La Plata County: the county treasurer. Incumbent Allison Aichele is being challenged by Tim Walsworth. Both are Democrats.
But there are several other statewide races that La Plata County voters can act on.
With Gov. John Hickenlooper leaving office, there’s a crowded field of candidates to succeed him from both major parties, as well as contested primary races for attorney general and state treasurer.
There also are contested primaries for six of Colorado’s seven congressional seats and 18 of its legislative districts.
And for the first time, unaffiliated Coloradans are voting in what promises to be a wild primary – and no one knows for sure what impact they’ll have on the results until after the votes are counted.
On Monday, Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams announced that 690,866 ballots had been returned so far in the election – 267,620 ballots cast by registered Democrats, 261,686 by Republicans and 161,560 by unaffiliated voters.
Of the unaffiliated voters, 79,965 have cast Democratic ballots as of Monday and 53,644 Republican ballots.
Here’s what you need to know about the election today:
1. For the first time, unaffiliated voters can vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary, but not both. If a voter marks and returns both ballots, neither ballot will be counted. So return only one ballot.
2. It’s too late to mail your ballot; you must deliver your ballot to a designated ballot drop-off site, all of which are open until 7 p.m. today:
La Plata County Clerk and Recorder’s Office, 98 Everett St., Suite C, Durango.La Plata County Administration Building, 1101 East Second Ave., DurangoFarmers Fresh Market, 535 Goddard Ave., IgnacioBayfield Town Hall, 1199 Bayfield Parkway, Bayfield3. At a voting service and polling center, you can drop off your ballot and you can also register to vote or update your registration, vote in person, or get a replacement ballot that you can then fill out and drop off. Local centers are at:
La Plata County Clerk and Recorder’s Office, 98 Everett St., Suite C, DurangoLa Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave., DurangoBayfield Town Hall, 1199 Bayfield Parkway, Bayfield4. If you have questions, call the state’s Election Protection hot line at (English) or 888-839-8682 (Spanish).
5. The Durango Herald will publish stories online as results become available, most likely around 8 p.m. for the local contested race. Check back at durangoherald.com for updates and on our Facebook page. We also will also send a breaking news email and phone text alert when results are in. To sign up for breaking news emails, go to durangoherald.com and scroll to the bottom right corner. To sign up for breaking news text alerts, text “dhnews” to 99000.
Colorado Politics contributed to this story.
