The ballots – crowded with multiple tax issues, school-board races and other government business – are not the only potentially confusing issue in this year’s election.
Voting dates and balloting systems are adding to the confusion. For most of Colorado, election day is Nov. 1, but how and when you vote may vary.
Pueblo voters have two election days – Nov. 1 for state referendums and Nov. 8 for city elections.
“That’s a disaster,” said Wade Buchanan, president of the Bell Policy Center, a Denver think tank backing Referendums C and D.
Referendum C calls for letting the state keep $3.7 billion over the next five years that would otherwise be refunded to taxpayers. Referendum D lets the state borrow another $2.1 billion to pay for roads, schools, health care programs and pensions.
The city of Pueblo is holding an election with mail-in ballots due Nov. 8 because the city’s charter requires elections to be on the “first Tuesday after the first Monday” of November.
Pueblo has three issues on the ballot, including a change to voting schedules to avoid similar problems in the future.
Katy Atkinson of the Vote Yes on C&D campaign said her team will be working to get voters out Nov. 1.
Each county determines the voting method for elections in odd-numbered years. About half use mail-in ballots, due by the evening of Nov. 1.
A survey by the head of the Colorado County Clerks Association last week found that 23 counties will be requiring voters to go to their polling places, while 29 will use mail-in ballots. Four counties will use voting centers. Eight counties did not respond.
Staff writer Mark P. Couch can be reached at 303-820-1794 or mcouch@denverpost.com.
County voting options
Polling places
Bent, Broomfield, Cheyenne, Crowley, Custer, Denver, Dolores, El Paso, Jackson, Kiowa, Kit Carson, Lake, Las Animas, Logan, Moffat, Pitkin, Rio Blanco, Rio Grande, San Juan, San Miguel, Summit, Teller, Washington
Voting centers
Adams, Larimer, Otero, Weld
Mail-in ballots
Alamosa, Arapahoe, Archuleta, Baca, Chaffee, Clear Creek, Costilla, Douglas, Delta, Eagle, Elbert, Fremont, Garfield, Gilpin, Grand, Gunnison, Huerfano, Jefferson, La Plata, Lincoln, Mesa, Montezuma, Montrose, Morgan, Ouray, Phillips, Prowers, Sedgwick, Yuma
Eight counties didn’t respond to the survey.
