La Plata County Clerk and Recorder Tiffany Lee began mailing general election ballots Friday and expects them to arrive in Durango by Tuesday or Wednesday, and to more rural parts of the county later in the week.
There are 42,700 active voters in the county who have or will receive a ballot. Of those voters, 22,000 – 52% – are unaffiliated with a political party.
Democrats are the next largest voting bloc at 24% of ballots mailed, and Republicans follow with just under 23%. The remaining 1% of voters are registered with a minor party.
All of this year’s ballots in La Plata County fit on a single, double-sided 18-inch piece of paper. However, ballots will look slightly different depending on whether a voter lives inside Durango city limits and inside the boundary of Durango School District 9-R.
In addition to the slate of races for federal and state offices, as well as statewide ballot questions, school district residents are being asked to approve a $150 million bond to fund various deferred maintenance and capital projects.
Residents who live in the county (as well as in Ignacio and Bayfield) but not inside the city of Durango will be asked to reallocate 70% of the revenue from the county’s lodgers tax toward affordable housing and child care. Durango voters will not weigh in on that question because the city has its own 5.25% lodgers tax.
There are also eight presidential tickets that will appear on the ballot, although Lee is urging caution around one of them. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an independent candidate, suspended his bid for president in August but opted not to formally withdraw from the race in Colorado. Votes for Kennedy will be counted and reported even though he is no longer running.
Lee will continue to send ballots to newly registered voters until Oct. 28, at which point voters seeking a ballot must visit one of five voter service centers to register and vote in person.
| La Plata County Clerk & Recorder, 679 Turner Dr., Ste C, Durango | Monday – Friday Oct. 21 – 25, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Monday – Friday Oct. 28 – Nov. 1, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 2, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Monday Nov. 4, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Election Day, Nov. 5, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. |
| Pine River Library, 395 Bayfield Center Dr., Bayfield | Friday, Nov. 1, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 2, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Monday Nov. 4, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Election Day, Nov. 5, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. |
| La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave, Durango | Monday Nov. 4, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Election Day, Nov. 5, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. |
| Fort Lewis College Community Concert Hall, 1000 Rim Dr., Durango | Monday, Nov. 4, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Election Day, Nov. 5, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. |
| Southern Ute Cultural Center and Museum, 503 Ouray Dr., Ignacio | Friday, Nov. 1, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Saturday, Nov. 2, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Monday Nov. 4, 8 a.m. – 5 p.m.; Election Day, Nov. 5, 7 a.m. – 7 p.m. |
“I also encourage voters to just use a drop site, because then they are guaranteed that we receive it (in a timely manner), instead of putting it through the mail stream,” Lee said.
In addition to polling places, 24-hour dropboxes are stationed at the Farmers Fresh Market in Ignacio and Bayfield Town Hall, as well as the clerk and recorder’s office, the county administration building, the fairgrounds and the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College in Durango.
A single voter may collect and drop off up to 10 completed ballots on behalf of the voters who used and signed them each election cycle. The status of a ballot can be tracked at GoVoteColorado.gov.
A full list of frequently asked questions, including directions on what to do if a ballot is lost, damaged or a voter makes a mistake, can be found on the clerk and recorder’s website.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
