COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo.—A government watchdog group worries there will be delays at the polls in El Paso County on Election Day because the group says not enough paper ballots have been printed.
But county election manager Liz Olson said officials will monitor voter turnout Election Day and will order more paper ballots if needed. Olson also said a touch-screen voting machine will be available at every voting precinct.
“You can’t run out of ballots when you have a touch screen,” she said.
The Denver-based Ethics Watch says voters may be discouraged from voting if ballots run out and they have to wait for more to be ordered.
El Paso County has 374,070 registered voters and officials say they ordered 170,895 paper ballots. Officials say they expect 175,000 people to voter early or by mail.
“That’s a gamble,” said Luis Toro, senior council for Ethics Watch. “It’s better to have too many than not enough.”
Olson said 57,399 of the 150,000 mail ballots her office sent had been cast by Friday.
Ballots ran out once before in El Paso County in November 2005 and current Clerk and Recorder Bob Balink apologized for it, saying he underestimated how many would be needed.
Denver and Boulder county election officials say they will decide how many paper ballots to print by considering early-voting turnout.
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Information from: The Gazette,
