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Routt County saw lower rate of rejected unaffiliated voter’s ballots than the rest of Colorado

Colorado’s unaffiliated voters beat the odds in the June 26 primary election, turning in ballots that had to be rejected at less than half the rate initially predicted.

Voters in 2016 approved Proposition 108, which allowed unaffiliated voters to automatically participate in primary elections by voting for candidates on either the Democratic ballot or the Republican ballot. Based on other states’ results, one argument against the measure was that as many as 7 percent of the ballots would have to be disqualified because voters would fill out both ballots instead of one.

But the statewide rejection rate was 2.4 percent, according to election figures released earlier this month. Routt County’s rate was about half that at 1.3 percent. Just 22 of the county’s 1,650 ballots cast by unaffiliated voters were rejected.

“I am incredibly proud of the efforts by our county clerks and media partners who helped deliver the message to only vote one ballot,” Secretary of State Wayne Williams said in a news release. “Our office will be working with the clerks to improve the percentage in our next primary election, in 2020.”


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