With few contested races on the ballot, turnout is low so far among voters in La Plata County in advance of Tuesday’s primary election.
Only 6,518 ballots – around 15% of the 42,000 ballots sent out – had been returned as of Friday morning, according to County Clerk and Recorder Tiffany Lee.
That is above the statewide turnout of 13.8%, according to statistics available from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.
The low turnout is no surprise, Lee said, given the lack of competitive contests.
On the Republican side, six candidates are vying for the party’s nomination in the 3rd Congressional District race. Whoever wins the primary will face Democrat Adam Frisch in November. In a 2022 near miss, Frisch unexpectedly came within 546 votes of unseating Rep. Lauren Boebert in a district that leans in favor of Republicans.
Although two candidates’ names appear in the race for a University of Colorado Board of Regents race, Kristine Sposato withdrew from the race and any votes for her will not be counted.
Election night coverage
Results from Tuesday’s primary election will arrive after voting ends at 7 p.m. Because of The Durango Herald’s print deadline, results will not appear in Wednesday’s print edition. However, results and coverage can be found on election night at www.durangoherald.com, and full coverage and results will appear in Friday’s print edition.
The only contested race on the Democratic ballot is for an at-large seat on the CU Board of Regents between Charles “CJ” Johnson, vice president of diversity, equity and inclusion at Ball Corp., and former teacher and an education attorney Elliot Hood.
“Every day we're receiving a very consistent amount of ballots, (and) I don't anticipate it to significantly increase,” Lee said. “Of course, we always see on Election Day a little bit more.”
In addition to the partisan candidates who will appear on the November ballot, recently appointed County Treasurer Ann “Moni” Grushkin is running as an independent. She is currently running unopposed. Nobody has filed to run for the position of county surveyor, which has been a challenge to fill in the past.
Just over half – 53% – of La Plata County voters are unaffiliated with a political party and received ballots to vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary. Despite repetitious directions, 25 people have voted in both party’s elections and returned both ballots to Lee’s office. Neither ballot is counted in those circumstances.
Only one person in the county had voted in person as of Thursday morning.
It is now too late to return ballots by mail. All ballots must be received, not postmarked, by 7 p.m. Tuesday.
Ballots can be dropped at one of six 24-hour drop boxes located in Durango, Bayfield and Ignacio. There are also staffed voter service centers at the Pine River Library in Bayfield and at the Clerk and Recorder’s Office in Durango on Monday and Tuesday.
rschafir@durangoherald.com
