Primary election candidates are busy making their last-minute pitches to voters before Tuesday’s election.
But the number of mail-in ballots pouring into county clerks’ offices is on record pace, creating the possibility the votes that will decide the elections have already been cast.
Adams County has received about 17,000 mail-in ballots so far, a number that eclipses the 14,000 mail-in ballots it received in 2004, the last big primary year.
Jefferson County has received about 49,000 mail-in ballots, an amount that’s already about two-thirds the total number of ballots cast in the 2004 primary.
El Paso County has received more than 34,000 mail-in ballots, which elections workers have already begun to count, leading county Clerk Bob Balink to think it could be an early night come Election Day.
“Right after 7 p.m., we’re going to put up probably 80 percent of our results for absentee and mail-in,” Balink said. “That’s probably going to tell everything right there. I don’t think those results will change for the rest of the evening.”
The rate of return of mail-in ballots sent out to voters this year has been only average, clerks say. After a new state law allowed voters to sign up for permanent mail-in ballot status, clerks put a record number of the ballots in the mail.
“It’s lower than I expected,” said Arapahoe County Clerk Nancy Doty, whose office has received about 38,000 mail-in ballots, roughly a third of the number it sent out.
But having so many ballots in play early in the election cycle has drastically changed the campaign strategy for some primary candidates.
Campaigns began running television and radio ads earlier in the season this year, several campaign managers said. Candidates placed a higher priority on targeting voters who had requested a mail-in ballot, bombarding them with mailings, phone calls and home visits.
“If they have a ballot in their hands, they’re a top target,” said Jon Hotaling, the campaign manager for 6th Congressional District Republican candidate Ted Harvey.
None of the clerks contacted could speculate what voter turnout on Election Day would look like for the primaries.
“I don’t think there’s any way to judge it this year,” Adams County Clerk Karen Long said.
Amber Glus, a spokeswoman for 5th Congressional District Republican candidate Jeff Crank, said she called 150 voters in the district Thursday and found only 40 who hadn’t already voted.
“We felt early on that this would be the case,” Glus said. “We’re kind of running a 30-day election this year instead of a one-day election.”
John Ingold: 303-954-1068 or jingold@denverpost.com
