6:50 P.M. About 75 people so far at Camp Romanoff, set up at Moe’s BBQ in Aurora. Mood is subdued so far.
4:55 p.m.: As Election Day nears an end, one of the local contests to watch will be the possible repeal of Aurora’s ban on pit bulls.
The 9-year-old ban has always been contentious, and city voters will be asked whether they want the city to scrap it.
Last week, just a few days before Election Day, a dog that witnesses described as a pit bull attacked a 15-year-old girl’s shih tzu, killing the smaller pooch right in front of its owner.
The attacking dog — which witnesses described as a brown and white pit bull named Bandit — has not yet been found, and police said they can’t say with certainty whether it was a pit bull.
Still, the incident grabbed some headlines just before the election.
Juliet Piccone, a local lawyer who has been a vocal critic of the ban, said the attack shows why breed bans don;t work.
In this case, Piccone, who is a member of Coloradans For Breed Neutral Dog Laws Inc., said the dog’s owner should be prosecuted, but the dog’s actions, not its breed, is the troubling element here.
“The breed should not be the issue. The issue should be, was there an irresponsible owner,” she said.
Also, Piccone said, she wouldn’t be surprised if the dog wasn’t a pit bull. In the case of a suspected pit bull that bit another dog at n Aurora dog park last summer, Piccone said DNA tests eventually showed the dog was not actually one of the restricted breeds.
Dog attacks are common, she said, and last week’s only grabbed attention because of the upcoming election.
Aurora City Councilman Bob Broom, who supports the pit bull ban, said he doesn’t think last week’s attack will have any effect on the election.
“Most people already voted,” he said.
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2:15 P.M. Aaaaaand, we’re back. ArapahoeVotes.com is back online. All the interactive features, such as where do I vote/drop-off-my-ballot/the-dog-groomed (just kidding) appears to be working. The site was down for more than five hours. Local county officials said the problem arose from the Florida company that manages the site. So far so good. Voting and drop-off at local voting centers appears to be light. No or very small wait times, according to the county’s website. There was just about nobody voting or dropping off ballots at West Middle School in Aurora at about 2 p.m.
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1:55 P.M. Lots of hand-wringing over at Arapahoe County Clerk’s office. The county’s wonderful voting website is, dead in the water. The Florida vendor who manages the site isn’t sure what’s wrong, and they have no ETA when ArapahoeVotes.com be back. Local Democrats said the outage wasn’t helping them lasso last-minutes votes. In the mean time, some election information, such as voter center locations and ballot-drop off sites is available at https://www.co.arapahoe.co.us/
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1:40 P.M.: It ain’t over ‘til it’s over, and it’s not over — or cheap to feed the hungry. Congressman Mike Coffman’s campaign is running to the finish line tonight, but stopped long enough to send out one more missive asking for support, and cash. “Our volunteers are out knocking doors, waving signs, and making calls until the last minute,” Campaign chief Tyler Sandberg said in his email. “Just $5 could help feed these hungry supporters and keep them going through the day and up until the last ballot is cast.” Could be several hours before we find out whether Team Mike Coffman or Team Andrew Romanoff gets to taste a little victory or crow tonight.
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1:15 P.M.: Does Amendment 68 hold key to Arapahoe Park’s future in Aurora? — If voters say yes to Amendment 68 tonight, they can expect a massive expansion at the Arapahoe Park horse racing track.
Year-round table games and slot machines will join horse racing there to make the facility one of the state’s top gambling destinations. And projections call for more than $100 million in annual tax revenue to be funneled to Colorado schools.
But if voters say no? The future for the 400-acre, 10,000-seat horse-racing track just outside the Aurora city limits is murkier. CLICK HERE FOR THE FULL STORY BY BRANDON JOHANSSON
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NOON: Gov. John Hickenlooper and Sen. Mark Udall are both fishing for last-minute votes on the Auraria Campus in Downtown Denver. Free burritos, a raucous crowd have got a lot of students headed to the voting center nearby, students said.
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11:50 a.m.: With about seven hours left in Election Day, local voters hoping to check Arapahoe County’s election website are running into trouble.
The site, arapahoevotes.com, has been down off and on throughout the day.
As of about 11:45 a.m., the site — which includes details on where to drop off a ballot and how many ballots have been cast — remained down.
A county spokeswoman did not immediately return a call for comment.
John Buckley, chairman of the Arapahoe County Democratic Party, said the website woes are troubling.
“It’s certainly not helpful,” he said.
Still, Buckley said, he is getting reports that Election Day turnout has been high so far, with 24-hour drop boxes around the county crammed tight with ballots.
Buckley said he is hopeful the Election Day turnout means a strong showing for Democrats similar to 2010, when many Democratic voters opted to cast a ballot on election Day rather than via mail.
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10:20 a.m.: Republican Mike Coffman was out early today, waving for votes as the clock winds down.
10 a.m.: No problems reported in either Adams nor Arapahoe counties. Voting and drop-off is reportedly light so far at Aurora area voting centers. The website at ArapahoeVotes.com, arguably the best county election website in the state, and maybe the country, is slow to load this morning.







well so much for THAT biased report: Guess the PEOPLE of Aurora decided that a safe community trumps outside aggitators stumping for a few sociopaths that don’t give a ‘hoot’ for their fellow citizens and their rights to a safe community.
County-specific Results for repealing Pit Ban.
Adams
No
63.5% 2,902
Yes
36.4% 1,662
Arapahoe
No
66.6% 54,196
Yes
33.3% 27,174
Douglas
No
71.5% 196
Yes
28.4% 78