Votes stream in day before election
Ballots must be dropped off by 7 p.m. today
Ann Smith of Durango drops off her ballot for the upcoming elections at the La Plata County Courthouse on Monday morning as poll workers Lon Erwin left and Ted LaMay assist.
By Dale Rodebaugh , Shane Benjamin Herald staff writers
Ballots were coming in quickly Monday at La Plata County Courthouse, a marked increase from the weeks leading up to Election Day.
“The pace is much better today,” County Clerk and Recorder Tiffany Lee Parker said in a brief interview at her office in Bodo Industrial Park. “Before today, it was disappointing.”
The drop-off pace at the courthouse was about 75 ballots an hour, Parker said.
As of 1:30 p.m., 28.2 percent of voters had cast ballots, she said. The average turnout for odd-year elections is 50 percent, she said.
Turnout is comparable to the 29 percent of La Plata County voters who cast ballots in 2011, the last off-year election, according to county numbers.
There are too many important issues on the ballot to let a handful of electors make the decisions, Parker said.
Ballots must be cast by 7 p.m. today.
“Don’t mail your ballot now,” Parker said. “It’s too late.”
Durango resident Betty Leonard dropped off two ballots Monday at the courthouse, one for herself and one for her daughter who is a teacher with Durango School District 9-R.
Leonard said she felt most strongly about Amendment 66, which would increase income taxes to fund schools.
She said her daughter has been forced to pay for printer ink out of her own pocket this year.
“They ran out of money in September for supplies,” Leonard said. “Every year, the budget gets cut more and more.”
Durango residents George Sterk and Dora Rivera also said Amendment 66 was of more significance. Both were in favor of the tax increase.
“We need something for the schools, so I’m in favor of it,” Sterk said. “I’m opposed to the people who don’t want to pay any taxes, who think everything should be free.”
All three voters said they were opposed to Durango’s bag fee, which would put a 10-cent fee on plastic and paper bags at large grocery stores.
Sterk said he would support a full bag ban, but placing a fee on bags is a half measure.
“I don’t think it’s effective,” he said. We need a total ban rather than a partial one.”
Volunteers Lon Erwin and Ted LaMay, operating a ballot box just inside the county courthouse Monday, said ballots had been coming in steadily most of the day. That box was available until 5 p.m. Monday. It will be available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. today.
They said that as four people were dropping off ballots and one woman was bringing in a stack of about six that included members of her family and church.
Statewide and countywide, voter turnout through last week had been lower than election officials predicted.
Parker said 35,402 ballots were mailed to La Plata County residents. Returns are overwhelmingly by mail or drop-offs, she said. At 1:30 p.m., five people had used the touch screen to vote at her office, and 13 people had cast a paper ballot.
The first results will be posted online about 7:30 p.m. on Election Day at www.laplatacountyclerk.org. She will make one more upload, Parker said. Those results will be the majority, but unofficial count, she said.
County voters face an unusually large number of important choices for an odd-numbered election. State issues are Amendment 66, which increases income-tax rates for schools, and Proposition AA, which would create taxes for recreational marijuana.
City of Durango voters must decide on consolidating the fire district and whether to uphold the City Council-approved bag fee ordinance.
Also, voters in the Durango and Bayfield schools districts will decide on the makeup of their boards.
