Arapahoe County completed recounts Tuesday for two ballot questions and three contests, and finalized results for the 2017 Coordinated Election.
Official election results for jurisdictions wholly within Arapahoe County are available at http://bit.ly/ACResults17. Final results for jurisdictions that cover portions of Arapahoe and other counties are available on the statewide report at http://bit.ly/COResults17.
Recount Results
Arapahoe County completed mandatory recounts for Bennett Fire Protection District No. 7 Ballot Issue 4D, Byers School District 32-J Ballot Question 3B and the City of Aurora Council Member At-Large Race, as well as requested recounts for the City of Centennial Council Member District 4 and City of Greenwood Village Council Member District 4 races. A summary of the recount results in Arapahoe County is available at http://bit.ly/ACRecount17.
“We were proud to conduct an efficient, transparent and accurate recount,” said Clerk and Recorder Matt Crane. “Our elections workers re-scanned all of the 93,249 ballots cast in the 2017 Coordinated Election and tabulated the results in a single business day. Their efforts helped to keep costs low and provide a decisive outcome for citizens, candidates and jurisdictions who were awaiting the results.”
Adams and Douglas County also completed recounts, because the City of Aurora includes portions of all three counties, while Bennett Fire and Byers School District include portions of Adams County.
The recounts did not change the outcome of any of the impacted races or ballot questions. Final results (including multi-county totals) are as follows:
- Bennett Fire Protection District Issue 4D passed with 877 ‘Yes’ votes.
- Byers School District Question 3B failed due to a tie of 258 ‘Yes’ and 258 ‘No’ Votes.
- City of Aurora Council Member At-Large (Vote for Two): Allison Hiltz and Dave Gruber won with 17,697 and 13,554 votes, respectively.
- City of Centennial Council Member District 4: Candidate Marlo Alston won with 1,649 votes.
- City of Greenwood Village Council Member District 4 (Vote for Two): Judith M. Hilton and Thomas J. Dougherty won with 567 and 526 votes, respectively.
Post-Election Audit and Canvass
Prior to the recount, the Arapahoe County Board of Canvassers met Nov. 21 to certify the election results. The Board certified amended results Tuesday for the races and questions that were recounted. The Board of Canvassers includes Clerk and Recorder Matt Crane as the Coordinated Election Official, Arapahoe County Democratic Party Chair Mary Ellen Wolf, and Arapahoe County Republican Party appointee Myron Spanier.
Arapahoe County also successfully passed its first official Risk-Limiting Audit of election results Nov. 18 with no findings. Colorado is the first state in the nation to conduct this type of audit statewide. A risk-limiting audit provides a high level of statistical confidence that the outcome of an election is correct, or provides a high probability correcting an inaccurate outcome if it exists.
“Voters in Arapahoe County can have confidence in the integrity of our voting system and our innovative audit process, which proves that their vote was counted properly,” said Crane.
Final Turnout
Final, official turnout in the 2017 Coordinated Election in Arapahoe County was 93,249 ballots, representing 26.57 percent turnout of eligible voters. Only voters who live in a municipality or district with a race or question on the ballot were eligible to vote in this election. Approximately 50,000 voters in Arapahoe County did not live in a coordinating jurisdiction and were not eligible to vote.
More than 99 percent of ballots cast were by mail. Less than one percent of ballots were cast by voters who appeared in-person at one of Arapahoe County’s Voter Service and Polling Centers in Aurora, Byers, Centennial and Littleton. These four locations were open for eight days.
Voters in Arapahoe County continue to value the convenience of ballot drop-off boxes. Approximately 70 percent of mail ballots were returned to a 24-hour box, while 30 percent were returned by mail.
More than 15,400 ballots did not reach the intended voter and were returned to Arapahoe County by the Postal Service due to an undeliverable address. Voters should check their voter registration and update their address to ensure they receive a ballot for the June 2018 Primary Election at www.GoVoteColorado.com. Unaffiliated voters are now eligible to vote in every Primary Election.
For more information about Arapahoe County Elections, please call 303-795-4511 or visit www.arapahoevotes.com.# #