2024 Election Day updates in Colorado: Race for state senator seat in District 12 remains tight
The Gazette's portfolio of publications — including The Gazette in Colorado Springs, The Denver Gazette and Colorado Politics — will be bringing you the latest on local, state and national politics throughout Election Day. Check back for updates.
Read more on general election results across the state.
Proponents of Proposition 131, the proposition to institute ranked choice voting in Colorado, have conceded, according to a press release from Colorado Democrats.
Currently, 55.56% of voters have voted against Proposition 131, according to data from The Colorado Secretary of State's Office.
The race for Colorado state Senate District 12, between Republican Stan VanderWerf and Democrat Marc Snyder, was still too close to call Tuesday night, with Republicans' hopes of staving off a Democrat supermajority in the state Senate riding on just a few thousand votes.
Current polling has Snyder with a tight lead in the district with 50.13% of the vote compared to Vanderwerf's 47.14%. Libertarian John Michael Angle has recorded 2.73% of the vote.
"We don't really know yet, and we might not know until tomorrow," said VanderWerf on Tuesday evening, shortly before the Republican watch party wrapped festivities early, due to weather.
The Associated Press has called House District 4 for Republican Lauren Boebert, who leads Democrat Trisha Calvarese 52.88% to 43.22%, and House District 7 for Democrat Brittany Pettersen, who leads Republican Sergei Matveyuk 57.3% to 39.7%.
The Associated Press also reports that Amendment 79, a constitutional amendment to protect the right to abortion and repeal a ban on public funding for abortions, has passed.
Colorado Springs voters appear to be split between approving or banning recreational marijuana sales in city limits, early returns show Tuesday night.
The resident-backed Ballot Question 300 that proposes authorizing the city's roughly 90 existing medical marijuana shops to also opt into selling retail cannabis products was earning 53.29% of the vote, while the City Council-backed Ballot Question 2D, which proposes banning recreational marijuana establishments by city charter, had 53.28%.
In the unlikely event that both questions pass, the charter ban will take precedence, city officials previously said.
Read more about the pair of recreational marijuana ballot questions here
Presumptive Republican winners for state representative seats in districts 20 and 10 spoke to attendees at the Colorado Springs GOP watch party Tuesday night.
Republican Jarvis Caldwell seems set to defeat Democrat Arik Dougherty by a sizeable margin, 70.56% to 29.44%, in Colorado state House District 20.
Caldwell said "It's a good day to be a Republican" after taking the stage at the Boot Barn Hall election watch party, according to Gazette reporters on scene.
Republican Larry Liston currently holds 56.69% of votes recorded so far in Colorado state House District 10 over Democrat Ryan Lucas, who holds 40.55% of the vote currently.
Larry Liston took the stage to cheers at the GOP watch party. As he closed his speech, Liston said "Let's win this tonight for Donald Trump and the Republican Party."
Republican U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert jumped to an early lead over Democrat Trisha Calvarese in Colorado's deep red 4th Congressional District, according to the unofficial and early returns on Tuesday night.
Boebert, who moved into the district after a close call in her old seat, led Calvarese by about 8.5 points, 52.3% to 43.2%, in initial results posted shortly after polls closed at 7 p.m. Libertarian nominee Hannah Goodman had 2.3%, and a pair of additional third-party candidates trailed.
Colorado Springs voters are set to approve a 10-year extension for the sales tax that has helped the city funds road improvements.
Tuesday night's initial election results from the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder's Office at 8 p.m. showed that 73.18% of voters were in support of renewing the 2C sales and use tax. Unofficial results showed 106,077 votes in favor of the measure and 38,878 votes against.
More than an hour after polls closed the first wave of results in El Paso County have begun to be reported. Here is a quick look at status of some notable races:
Congressional District 5: Jeff Crank (R) 54.86%, River Gassen (D) 41.91%
State Senator District 12: Stan VanderWerf (R) 47.15%, Marc Snyder (D) 50.13%
State Representative District 13: Dave Williams (R) 49.03%, Julie McCluskie (D) 50.97%
State Representative District 14: Rose Pugliese (R) 59.71%. Katherine Gayle (D) 40.29%
State Representative District 15: Scott Bottoms (R) 56.85%, Jeff Livingston (D) 43.15%
State Representative District 16: Rebecca Keltie (R) 49.44%, Steph Vigil (D) 50.56%
City of Colorado Springs Ballot Issue 2C: Yes 73.18%, No 26.82%
City of Colorado Springs Ballot Issue 2D: Yes 53.28%, No 46.72%
City of Colorado Springs Ballot Question 300: Yes 53.29%, No 46.71%
The Associated Press has reported that Kamala Harris has won Colorado in the presidential election. The Associated Press has also called three house district elections for Democrats.
House Districts 1, 2, and 6 have been called for Democrats Diana DeGette, Joe Neguse and Jason Crow respectively.
Initial results in Teller County report republican candidate Stephanie Luck ahead of democrat Kathryn Green for Colorado House District 60 67.54% to 32.46%.
Early results also report 55.88% of voters against repealing a local sales tax currently in place for Woodland Park School District and 44.12% in favor of losing the tax.
Initial unofficial Teller County results have Democratic candidate Amy Paschal ahead of Republican James Boelens Jr. 60% to 40% to replace Democrat Rep. Marc Snyder in Colorado House District 18.
With El Paso County yet to report, Republican Michael Allen currently leads Democrat opponent Jeremy Dowell 68.66% to 31.34% in the race for Colorado's 4th Judicial Distrcit Attorney.
Mayor Yemi Mobolade is present at the GOP watch party at the Boot Barn in Colorado Springs, according to Gazette reporters on scene.
Nearly an hour after polls closed no results have been reported out of El Paso County, according to data from The Colorado Secretary of State's Office.
El Paso County is one of 14 Colorado counties that have yet to report any results, five counties have already completed reporting.
Read more on general election results across the state.
Results in some Colorado counties have begun to be reported, according to data from The Colorado Secretary of State's Office.
Votes are currently being reported from several Colorado counties, including Denver, Fremont, Douglas and Arapahoe counties. So far results from El Paso County have not been reported.
So far, the Colorado Secretary of State's Office reports that nearly 45% of counties in Colorado have yet to report.
Read more on general election results across the state.
No lines were visible at 7 p.m. at the Centennial Hall polling location downtown. Law enforcement pulled behind the the last voter dropping off their ballots. To law enforcement's surprise, the line was short, despite the location being packed throughout the day. Sprinkles of rain started just as polls closed, leading some election officials at the polling location to speculate that voters showed up earlier to attempt to beat the weather.
Elections officials were able to start loading ballots into their truck shortly after 7 p.m. on their way to get counted.
Polls are now closed in Colorado. Voters who got in line at in-person polling locations prior to 7 p.m. will still be able to cast their votes. Drop off ballots are no longer being accepted.
The EL Paso County Clerk and Recorder's office posted a video on X around 6:30 documenting the line at a local polling location. The line extends through the halls, out the door, and around the building.
Voters who get in line prior to the 7 p.m. poll closure deadline will still be able to vote.
Spirits were high on Election Day at the polling center on the Colorado College campus. A staffer handing out ballots grins and tells each voter to "Have fun!" Student organizations provided free donuts and coffee to voters outside, and volunteers set up speakers to play music.
Colorado College hosted a polling center on its campus for the first time on Election Day.
All the election judges wore stars and stripes and sweaters or neckties decorated with the American flag. There was no sense of administrative boredom here. When there's a snag with someone's registration, the staff navigated the issue with humor, making students feel at ease.
As voters placed their ballots into the black box, a staffer draped in an American flag eagerly hands them an "I Voted" sticker and thanks them for voting.
Students, however, felt less excited.
"I feel really nervous," said Sacha Levine, a first-time voter and CC student. "I've been trying not to get my hopes up about the idea of Kamala winning, because I want to be prepared for either scenario."
Riley Cronin, a participant at a nonpartisan fellowship in Colorado Springs, said, "I voted for Kamala. I feel hopeful, but definitely nervous and a bit anxious."
First-time voter Ady Bolinger, said, "I'm feeling everything...I feel anxious. I'm also feeling joyful about the act of voting and how much community is built, especially on this campus, around voting and protecting certain rights, protecting democracy. So, I'm feeling optimistic about that, but I'm also feeling realistic about the fact that it's so close that it could go either way.
"Just in terms of representation, it does feel really good to be choosing not between two White men for president and to have a more diverse candidate pool," added Bolinger, who is the student director of CC Votes.
Students cited abortion rights and the economy as their primary concerns.
With less than an hour until polls close in Colorado, lines remain long at local polling locations.
Election officials told The Gazette that the line at the East Library on Union Boulevard polling location began to get long around 4:30 p.m. and hasn't slowed down since.
Gazette reporters at the polling location estimate the length of the line has nearly tripled compared to earlier this afternoon. Staff at the library told The Gazette that some voters have complained that they have had difficulties finding parking at the location.
Election officials at the Colorado College Worner Campus Center location told The Gazette that wait times to vote in-person are currently between 45-60 minutes. Earlier in the afternoon the wait time to vote at the location was closer to 20 minutes.
The drop-off ballot box location on Colorado College's campus had no wait time, according to Gazette reporters.
Gazette reporters on scene at the Centennial Hall polling location downtown are reporting that cars continue to pull up to drop off ballots, but there is currently no wait. The indoor voting area at the polling location as of 5 p.m. had a 15-20 minute wait.
Wait times at the polling location at the Citizens Service Center on Garden of the Gods Road have gotten longer than they were earlier this afternoon. Gazette reporters on scene are seeing lines to vote at the facility now wrapping out and around the building, when around noon the line only extended down the hallway.
Voters attempting to drop off ballots at the location are also having to wait, with the car line to drop off ballots extending out of the parking lot and to the main road.
As of 5:30 p.m. there was no wait to drop off ballots at the downtown Colorado Springs drop off location on South Nevada Avenue.
According to the latest data from the Colorado Secretary of State's Office, as of 2 p.m. 340,883 votes had been cast in El Paso County. With five hours to go, the ballot total for the county overtook the total turnout for the 2016 general election, which was 327,649.
The news release from the Colorado Secretary of State's Office adds that as of 2 p.m. 2,772,941 ballots were returned statewide.
El Paso County has 38 Voter Service and Polling Center locations open Tuesday. The centers are where people can register to vote and update voter information, request a replacement ballot, and vote in-person. The centers are able to register people to vote right up until Tuesday's 7 p.m. deadline.
Election officials said voters in line by 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote, but at that time don't be surprised to see a law enforcement vehicle join the line to serve as the cutoff.
Polling centers were busy Tuesday during the lunch hour, especially the Citizens Service Center on Garden of the Gods Road. Around noon, vehicles were backed up to the main road waiting to drop off their ballots. Parking lots were also packed, with voters having to shuttle into the parking garage to find a spot.
Inside, the line to fill out a ballot extended all the way down the hallway. Some voters opted to make the quick trip back home to pick up their mailed ballot instead, not wanting to wait several hours in line.
"I just decided to go back because there was a super long line," Sara Marie said. "It was probably going to take four or five hours to even vote, so it's just more worth it to go home to do my ballot and then turn it in."
The ballot this year was long, and some voters opted to turn theirs in early because of it's length, giving them more time to research while filling it out.
"There needs to be more readily available information for the judges especially, and the other people who aren't the presidents," Mishka Rose said, who turned her ballot in days ago. "Presidential candidates are much easier to research.
Other polling locations were just as packed. Election officials told the Gazette that the East Library on Union Boulevard had seen a "nice and steady" stream of voters all morning, anticipating it picking up pace as the clock approaches 7 p.m.
Many voters at the library opted to drop off their ballot while staying in their car, but there remained a handful of people in line at all times throughout the day.
One voter at the library said she prefers to vote early to avoid the pandemonium on Election Day, as well as give herself ample time to fill out her ballot.
"Early voting is great, because you can get it done and know you're done, and then that last minute, if you can't make it, I would feel awful," April Omari said. "I've always voted early, this is the first year I've done it the day of."
What's at stake?
Roughly 3.5 million Coloradans will likely cast a ballot by 7 p.m. today, their choices potentially steering the state on an array of issues — from hunting to taxation to education.
In Colorado Springs, voters will make choices on recreational marijuana and road maintenance. Around the city and El Paso and Teller counties, several seats are up for grabs from county commission to state Senate and House.
Even as the country's attention is focused on the race for the White House between former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris, Coloradans are poised to decide how future elections are conducted and whether to enshrine school choice or abortion rights in the Colorado Constitution.
In another question, voters might ban Coloradans from hunting big cats.
Those are just a few of the 14 questions on the statewide ballot.
Also on election night, the state's voters could have a hand in picking which party wields the gavel in the U.S. House of Representatives when the next Congress convenes in January.
When ballots are due
The county Clerk and Recorder's Office must receive all ballots by 7 p.m. Tuesday for their votes to be counted. Mail-in ballots that are postmarked before that deadline will not be counted unless they arrive by 7 p.m.
Voters need to sign the affidavit on their ballot envelope before dropping it off or else the vote won't be counted.
Where to vote, register
El Paso County has 38 Voter Service and Polling Center locations open Tuesday. The centers are where people can register to vote and update voter information, request a replacement ballot, and vote in-person. The centers are able to register people to vote right up until Tuesday night's deadline.
Ballots can also be dropped off in 41 ballot drop boxes across the county. The drop boxes will be regularly emptied by election judges and returned to the Elections office.
Click or tap here to see the drop box locations.
How is voting going so far?
More than half of the active voters in El Paso County returned their ballots by the end of Sunday.
The Secretary of State's Office reported the county had received 251,180 ballots as of Sunday, the most of any county in Colorado.
El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Steve Schleiker continues to project that the county would eventually approach 90% voter turnout, which would mean roughly 180,000 more voters returning their ballots by the close of polls Tuesday night.
"We're going to see some significant lines, you know, traffic lines at the ballot boxes and lines at our (Voter Service and Polling Centers)," Schleiker said Monday.
Schleiker did not expect the burst of snow that began Sunday night and continued into Monday to have a major impact on the county's turnout or the timeline for receiving votes. "I'm hoping it holds off until the polls close and it looks like it will," he said.
More than 1,000 people are working to oversee a smooth and secure election in the county. The support team included more than 800 temporary election judges and county staff relocated from the Motor Vehicle Department to help run voter centers Monday and Tuesday. Schleiker said the department had also pulled in security help from police departments and the Pikes Peak Regional Office of Emergency Management.
"We want people to have a positive experience when they come and vote," Schleiker said.
When will we know results?
The first set of unofficial results will not be released until after every voter in line at a Voter Service and Polling Center site has cast their ballot Tuesday night. The Clerk and Recorder's Office estimated that could take until 8 p.m. because of a potential high showing of in-person voters Tuesday.
Earlier turnout and votes cast in ballot boxes before Election Day will speed up the reporting of the initial election results.
Gazette Voter Guide
Need last-minute information about the issues and candidates around El Paso County and the state? See our complete guide to Colorado's 2024 ballot for voters in El Paso and Teller counties.
