Tuesday, November 7. The final day for submitting your ballot in the 2023 election.
The final day for weighing in on two state propositions — HH and II — and on Measure 5A, a proposed renewal of an Archuleta School District (ASD) ‘Mill Levy Override’ to add $1.7 million in property tax funding, annually, to the District’s revenues, in perpetuity.
The final day to vote on the candidates for ASD School Board.
The Motor Vehicle and Recording offices will be closed today, and you can no longer return your ballot by mail. If you are placing a vote, ballots must be hand-delivered by 7:00pm tonight.
- Elections Office – 449 San Juan Street, Pagosa Springs, CO (behind old courthouse)
- Pagosa Lakes Property Owners Association (PLPOA Clubhouse) – 230 Port Avenue, Pagosa Springs, CO
- Drop Box #1 – (Old Courthouse) 449 San Juan Street, Pagosa Springs, CO located outside on the westside of the building near the flagpole.
- Drop Box #2 – (Tara Community Center) 333 Milton Lane, Arboles, CO
As of Sunday, the voter participation in Archuleta County had not been overwhelming; the Secretary of State reported 2,935 ballots submitted by November 5. While driving through town yesterday, I saw a couple of people dropping ballots in the County Courthouse ballot box. Maybe we will pass the 3,000 mark by the end of today?
For comparison, during the 2020 election — when Donald Trump and Joe Biden were vying for the Presidency — Archuleta County voters submitted 9,404 ballots.
The graphs published by the Secretary of State yesterday gave an indication that our political choices, in Colorado, are now being made largely by Unaffiliated voters — the folks who adhere to no particular political party.
As we see in the graph, the participation by Unaffiliated voters (shades of purple) this year is much higher than in recent off-year elections. Off-year participation by Democrats (shades of blue) has been remarkably consistent since 2019; the participation by Republicans (shades of red) is notably lower than in 2019.
You can download all the SOS graphs here.
Another interesting graph provided by the Secretary’s staff.
As we see here, among the voters who participated this year — so far — people younger than age 75 are most likely to be Unaffiliated. This is especially true for voters 54 and younger.
For voters identifying with a political party, Republicans outnumber Democrats for folks older than 55. Democrats outnumber Republicans among those 54 and younger, but far fewer in those age groups are voting this year.
Among voters 18-24, Unaffiliated voters outnumber Democrats and Republicans put together. But again, not many are voting.
How about gender?
In every age group, female voters are — so far — outnumbering male voters, except in the 18-24 age group.
For voters 55 and older, the females are noticeably dominant, especially in the 65-74 age group — the group with the most voter participation this year. The gender comparisons get closer as the voters get younger.
Tomorrow, we will find out what these numbers actually meant to the 2023 election.
Bill Hudson began sharing his opinions in the Pagosa Daily Post in 2004 and can’t seem to break the habit. He claims that, in Pagosa Springs, opinions are like pickup trucks: everybody has one.