DENVER | Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams is recommending that voters who haven’t mailed in their ballots yet deliver them in person instead, but Denver mail officials and clerks in Adams and Arapahoe counties are saying differently.
Denver mail officials said today was the first they’d heard of Williams’ announcement and were confident their system could get mail delivered to county clerks on time, although they said earlier is better when it comes to mailing ballots.
“All of our processes are running fine,” said David Rupert, Unites States Postal Service spokesman for Colorado. “You can continue to mail your ballots this week and the Postal Service will deliver them in time for Election Day. We agree with the Secretary of State in encouraging all voters to complete their ballots and return them as soon as possible for tabulation.”
Rupert said that any ballots completed next week should be directly deposited with respective county clerks. He said that ballots mailed on Election Day could not be counted in time.
“People thinking they are going to drop their ballot in the box Nov. 2 or Nov. 3 — it’s very possible their vote won’t count.”
Lynn Bartels, a spokeswoman for Williams, said in some counties, ballots have arrived sporadically, with some voters at the same address receiving ballots a few days apart.
The fist day ballots could be sent was Columbus Day, Oct. 12, Bartels said. While postal officials assured the Secretary of State the ballots would be mailed immediately after the holiday, some were’t touched for a few days.
“If it’s that inconsistent in delivery, how can you guarantee the return?” she said.
Bartels said USPS officials said they could only guarantee 90 percent on-time delivery to clerk offices if ballots were mailed on Friday. She said Williams has not gotten an answer to his question as to what day voters have to mail to ensure 100 percent on-time delivery of ballots.
The two large counties serving Aurora voters, and thousands of others, however, said concern about postal problems is not an issue.
In Adams County, Clerk and Recorder Stan Martin said he prefers voters drop their ballot at one of the county’s 14, 24-hour drop off locations instead of putting them in the mail, to facilitate early tabulation. But Martin said he isn’t concerned about USPS being able to get ballots delivered on time.
Instead, Martin said, if voters drop their ballots at a drop box early, election officials can count those ballots the day they receive them.
“What we are trying to do there is prevent having a lot of ballots to process on Election Day,” Martin said.
So far, county officials have counted about 18,500 ballots, including 12,000 in a three-hour period on Monday.
About 60 percent of the 18,500 ballots received so far have been sent returned via mail, Martin said.
Between 70,000 and 80,000 of the more than 200,000 ballots mailed out will likely be returned by Election Day, Martin said.
Arapahoe County Clerk and Recorder Matt Crane said he recommends voters use a drop-off site, but hasn’t had problems with mail delivery.
“We haven’t seen those issues here in Arapahoe County this year,” Crane said.
Still, with just a week to go before election Day, Crane said he always advises voters who still have a ballot to drop them off at one of the county’s drop-off locations.
“It’s the safest, most secure way to get your ballot back to us,” he said.
Most voters in Arapahoe County — a full 70 percent in 2014 — use the drop-off sites instead of the mail, Crane said. He also said if voters are worried about their ballot getting to the clerk on time, they can visit arapahoevotes.com and sign up for the county’s free Ballot Track program, which will notify them when their ballot has been received.
In El Paso County, where Williams was clerk before being elected Secretary of State, Clerk and Recorder Chuck Broerman echoed Williams’ concerns with the USPS.
“We share Secretary Williams’ concern that voters aren’t getting their ballot in the mail as quickly as they have in the past,” Broerman said in a statement. “These delays from the U.S. Postal Service leave voters with less time to study the issues, vote, and return their ballot in enough time to be counted.”
Bartels said none of the concerns about slow mail service have come from metro Denver counties, but they have heard concerns from out state counties including Grand, Bent and Gilpin counties.
Williams suggests voters either drop off their ballots with their county clerk or use another county drop-off location before 7 p.m. Tuesday rather than putting them in the mail at this point.
Last year, a judge ruled that county clerks could not count ballots that arrive after 7 p.m. on Election Day.
In Arapahoe County, election officials are anticipating a rush of ballots in the week remaining before election day.
Haley McKean, a spokeswoman for the Arapahoe County Clerk and Recorder’s Office, said that of the more than 330,000 ballots the county mailed out, only about 36,000 have been returned as of Tuesday morning.
Officials expect between 100,000 and 150,000 voters to cast a ballot in this election, McKean said, which means there could be close to 120,000 voters still planning to send in or drop off their ballot.
More than 2.9 million ballots have been mailed to registered voters across the state this month, according to an Oct. 26 press release issued by the Postal Service.
All Colorado ballots are delivered as first-class mail and require a stamp, according to Rupert. He said that there are two processing facilities in the state, one in Denver and one in Grand Junction, and that first-class mail typically arrives at its destination within two days of being sent.
Rupert said that last year’s all-mail election cycle was considered a success and that processing is progressing smoothly this year.
“We are very proud of how we performed last year and the postal employees in Colorado,” he said. “We expect to continue our performance of this year’s election.”
Reporter Quincy Snowdon and the Associated Press contributed to this story.
Oct. 27, 2015 statement from the USPS:
In 2013, The Colorado Legislature voted to implement an all-mail election system and the Postal Service has worked hard to ensure this democratic and legal process is successful.
The inaugural general election in 2014 was a well-documented accomplishment. Despite the newness of the process, there were no issues with returned mail ballots and voter turnout actually improved. The Denver Post called it a “vote of confidence” in a Nov. 10 editorial.
So far, in 2015, the Postal Service has successfully delivered 2.9 million ballots to voters. Every day, we are collecting, processing and delivering hundreds of thousands of completed ballots to county clerks and recorders.
We are very proud of how we performed last year and the postal employees in Colorado will continue that stellar performance for this year’s election.
You can continue to mail your ballots this week and the Postal Service will deliver them in time for Election Day. Any ballots next week should be deposited directly with the county/clerk recorder.
We agree with the Secretary of State in encouraging all voters to complete their ballots and return them as soon as possible for tabulation.
Secretary of State Wayne Williams recommends voters personally drop off their ballots
DENVER, Oct. 27, 2015 – Secretary of State Wayne Williams recommends voters who have not yet returned their ballots for the Nov. 3 election either drop off their ballots with their county clerks or use a designated county drop-off location.
Several county clerks have expressed concern that the U.S. Postal Service did not deliver their ballots in a timely manner. Those ballots that are filled out and mailed are, for the most part, sent to the USPS’s sorting center in Denver, and then returned to the county clerks. That’s why the secretary of state’s office is recommending ballots be hand-delivered rather than mailed to ensure they are received by Election Day. The Department of State wants to ensure that every voter’s voice heard in this election.
In 2014, a Colorado District Court judge ruled that county clerks may not count ballots that arrive after 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Information on locations for county clerks’ offices, voter service and polling centers and 24-hour drop-off locations can be found here.
Secretary Williams is committed to working with the postal service, Colorado county clerks and the members of the state legislature in order to improve future options for voting.