AURORA | Thankfully, it’s the year that only comes once every four years.
This year, voters going to the polls will have a bevy of decisions to make. From the presidential race to state House and Senate races, from county commissioners to ballot questions, and nearly everything in between.
The Nov. 6 election touches nearly every aspect of people’s lives in and around Aurora. Four years after being dubbed “ground zero” for the last presidential contest by USA Today, this year Coloradans and their votes are being watched closely. Arapahoe County Clerk and Recorder Nancy Doty said she expects a high voter turnout this year.
“We always get a higher voter turnout in presidential elections,” she said.
In the 2008 and 2004 presidential elections, the county saw a 93 percent voter turnout. Currently, the county — which encompasses most Aurora residents — has more than 285,000 active voters.
In addition to the U.S. presidency, voters citywide will be asked to select a U.S. congressman from a new district predominantly composed of Aurora and its residents. Incumbent Mike Coffman, a Republican, is bidding for his third term in Colorado Congressional District 6, against Joe Miklosi, a Democrat. Previously, Aurora was separated into two different districts, CD6 and CD7.
Similarly, the boundaries for state House and Senate districts have changed after legislative reapportionment. Four state senators and seven state house representatives can call at least some part of Aurora home.
Residents of Adams and Arapahoe counties too will be asked to select commissioners who are tasked with everything from open space to water issues in Aurora.
And this year, like many other years, ballot questions have been oft discussed around offices and at homes. This year, a group will be asking citizens around Colorado to de-criminalize small portions of marijuana for recreational use. Polling numbers have shown that most Coloradans support decriminalization, at least partially, and similar efforts are underway in Washington and other states have had varying degrees of success.
Parents of Aurora Public Schools and Cherry Creek School District students will be asked if they would raise property taxes to fund operating expenses, and in the case of Cherry Creek schools, additional building expenditures.
City officials too will be asking for more money in their coffers to fund transportation expenses. City question 2B will ask voters to extend an expiring tax to pay for incremental street upgrades like medians and road repairs around the city.
Voters in the 18th Judicial District, which encompasses much of Aurora, will also be asked to tab a new District Attorney after outgoing chief Carol Chambers is term-limited this year.
That’s not all: RTD commissioners, University of Colorado regents and referenda round out an already crowded ballot.
It may be heavy, but it’s only once in a while.
Election information:
• Mail-in ballots will be sent to homes beginning Oct. 15.
• Election Day is Nov. 6.
• Polling locations are available online for Arapahoe County at arapahoevotes.com and at co.adams.co.us.
• The Arapahoe County Clerk & Recorder is Nancy Doty. Elections officials can be reached at 303-795-4511 or at arapahoevotes.com.
• The Adams County Clerk & Recorder is Karen Long. Adams County election officials can be reached at 720-523-6020.
• Early voting will be held Oct. 22-Nov. 2 at selected locations.
Arapahoe County early voting locations in Aurora:
Arapahoe CentrePoint Plaza, 14890 E. Alameda Dr.
Mission Viejo Branch Library, 15324 E. Hampden Cir.
Smoky Hill Library, 5340 S. Biscay Cir.
Adams County early voting locations in Aurora:
Aurora Motor Vehicle, 3449 Chambers Road
For comprehensive and developing election news here and across the nation, go to aurorasentinel.com and click on “election” under “news” in the navigation bar.
Mitt In 2012 – Women’s Rights And Choices Based On Religious
Conscience
In the thick of the race to seek the
Republican presidential race nomination, the GOP stands accused of engaging in
a “war on women,” something the GOP loudly protests at every turn.
But as Shaw Kenawe points out, the
GOP’s “determination to make a legal medical procedure more and more
difficult for women, and for the presumptive nominee, Willard [Mitt] Romney, to
say that one of the first things he would do as president is withdraw all
government funding from Planned Parenthood, an organization that serves the
health needs of poor women who are under insured or who have no insurance at
all.”
Jennifer Epstein (Politico.com)
reminds us of Romney’s public position on women’s rights. ” Romney’s
statement that he would ‘get rid’ of Planned Parenthood and his support for a
congressional measure to give any employer the chance to opt out of covering
any health expense for “moral reasons.”
Marie
Diamond also shared insights about Romney’s ambiguity on choice issues,
“Although he claimed, ‘I would like to see the Supreme Court return this
right to the states,’ he has recently pledged to push for federal abortion restrictions …
Romney said he would expand a Bush-era rule that allows doctors
to deny women access to contraceptives.”
Igor
Volsky wrote an article (2011) about Romney’s intentions if he became
president. “In the final days of the Bush administration, the Department
of Health and Human Services (HHS) adopted a
“conscience rule” permitting
federally funded health care providers to opt out of health care services they
found objectionable.” President Obama reversed the rule that, “could
allow practitioners to deny women access to commonly used methods of birth
control like ‘oral
contraceptives, emergency contraception, and the IUD.'”
Mitt
Romney has pledged to restore and strengthen the conscience protection.
“We have to allow people to practice their faith and when they have a
matter of conscience that they can’t participate in some form of activity which
violates their faith, then they should be able to abide by their faith,
particularly when there are plenty of opportunities for people to have a service
provided.”