With less than a week until Election Day, a significant number of voters in La Plata County have already cast ballots. Voters returning ballots at a drop site Tuesday said voting early is convenient and helps ensure they don’t forget to vote on the day of the election.
About 27% of registered voters in La Plata County had voted as of Monday. Data released by the Colorado Secretary of State’s office shows that 45.2% of those came from voters unaffiliated with a political party, while 30.3% were returned by registered Democrats. Republicans trailed the pack, comprising just 23.8% of returned ballots. The remaining 0.7% came from registered third-party voters.
A total of 11, 034 ballots had been cast in the county.
La Plata County’s turnout is proportionately much higher than the rest of Colorado – just 19.5% of active voters statewide have cast a ballot so far.
County Clerk and Recorder Tiffany Lee expects high voter turnout in these midterm elections and said the early returns are much higher than they were at this time during the last midterm elections in 2018. About 6,600 ballots had been cast by Oct. 31 four years ago.
Lee has previously said she hopes for a 70% voter turnout in the county this year – an ambitious goal given that only 53% of eligible voters nationwide cast a ballot in 2018. She said the preliminary numbers mean the county is on track to meet that goal.
“If we’re already seeing this kind of volume, I can’t imagine what the end is going to look like,” she said. “We could get 15 to 20% turnout on Election Day.”
Several of the voters who returned ballots Tuesday at a drop box outside the county Administration Building said it was national issues that drove them to the polls and convenience that brought them out to vote a week early.
“I fall into that category of Americans right now who believes that this election is all about saving our democracy as the No. 1 priority – everything else pales in comparison,” said Greg Hoch, a registered Democrat. “So everything that does what I want relative to saving democracy is what I’m in favor of.”
Tony Simplicio, who is unaffiliated with a political party, dropped off his ballot Tuesday as well and said getting rid of U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert was his top priority. He said he “didn’t feel too strongly either way” on other races and questions.
“I always vote,” said one woman, a registered Democrat who declined to give her name. “I think abortion is a big one ... just having people in office who support that. There’s too many crazy people out there. ... To get Boebert out – that’s a big one.”
Statewide, 36.7% of returned ballots have come from unaffiliated voters, while 33.1% were cast by Democrats and 29.3% came from Republicans.
Nationwide, Democrats lead in early voting over Republicans by a margin of 11%.
Lee said that as of Tuesday, only 79 ballots had been filled out in-person. Her office recommends that voters drop their ballots off at one of eight ballot drop sites rather than returning them by mail to ensure all ballots arrive by the time the polls close at 7 p.m. Election Day.
Voters may register and vote in person, up to and including on Election Day, at one of the county’s five voter service centers. Service centers are located in Durango at the Clerk and Recorder’s Office, at the La Plata County Fairgrounds and at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College; in Ignacio at the Southern Ute Cultural Center and Museum; and in Bayfield at the Pine River Library. Check the clerk’s “frequently asked questions” document on the La Plata County Clerk and Recorder’s website for each site’s specific hours.
