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The head of the Pitkin County Clerk and Recorder’s Office anticipates that staff will be counting ballots not only Tuesday but into Wednesday because of the high volume of votes cast.
“With the turnout we're expecting, we are not expecting to be able to finish (counting) by midnight on the fifth (of November),” said Ingrid Grueter, Pitkin County clerk and recorder. “If we do, or if we finish by 1 or 1:30 a.m., we’ll all be celebrating, but it’s doubtful.”
Grueter and the elections team will make a call late Tuesday night whether to continue counting or break before returning to work Wednesday.
“Last November and in March, we almost doubled our ballot count on Election Day,” she said. “If that happens, there is no way we’re finishing on Tuesday night, so we will be back in here on Wednesday, finishing up.”
As of Friday afternoon, the Clerk & Recorder’s Office had received just under 6,800 ballots. Grueter said that Pitkin County has about 13,900 active registered voters.
She said the total number is fluid due to withdrawals and new voter registrations.
Grueter plans to update the ballot count three times on election night, once after the polls close around 7 p.m., again around 9 p.m. and around midnight. Friday was the first day they could start scanning ballots, Grueter said.
Ballot drop boxes, monitored by two election judges, will close at 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Drop boxes for Pitkin County will be located at the Pitkin County Administration Office and at the Church at Redstone.
Voters registered through Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) must postmark their ballots by Nov. 5; the county must receive those ballots by Nov. 13.
Ballots that need to be cured, for mismatched signatures or other issues, also are due 11:59 p.m. on Nov. 13. If they are signed up with BallotTrax, voters will be notified electronically if they need to cure their ballot. Otherwise, they will be notified via mail.