Steamboat Springs — Early voting was running late at the Routt County Courthouse as Nov. 7, suggesting the possibility that a flood of people may be waiting to drop off their mail ballots in person on Election Day.

“I don’t know if there’s apathy and people just aren’t going to vote or if we’re going to get slammed at the last minute,” Routt County Clerk Kim Bonner said.

The people who have put off voting until Election Day, combined with the sheer length of the 2016 ballot, have put her staff behind the ballot processing pace she’d hoped to see, the clerk added.

At the end of the day Monday, Bonner reported that 10,694 of the 16,961 ballots mailed to active voters had been returned and accepted.

Voting on Election Day

For those who prefer not to return their mail ballot, they can surrender their mail ballot and vote in-person at a Voter Service and Polling Center.

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On Election Day, Nov. 8, the following locations will also be open as a voter service and polling center from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

• Routt County Annex, Trout Creek Conference Room, 136 Sixth St., Steamboat Springs.

• Hayden Town Hall, 178 W. Jefferson Ave., Hayden

• Oak Creek Town Hall, 129 Nancy Crawford Blvd., Oak Creek

Colorado law allows for same-day voter registration as long as the voter meets the 22-day residency requirement and can provide acceptable identification to vote their ballot.

That’s up from the 6,931 of the 16,961 ballots, or 38.66 percent of the total, that Bonner last reported Nov. 2. But the bigger numbers she had hoped for on Thursday, Nov. 3 and Friday, Nov. 4 did not materialize.

After 965 people voted on Nov. 2, numbers dropped off on Nov. 3 and 4 to around 500 each day, and that concerned Bonner, although she was pleased to see another 500 ballots dropped off during special election center hours on Saturday, Nov. 5.

“I thought Thursday and Friday would stay stronger,” Bonner said.

By Nov. 4, 8,274 people had returned their mail ballots, including 2,744 unaffiliated voters, 2,872 Democrats and 2,658 Republicans. Only 150 voters or so had cast their ballots the old-fashioned way and stepped behind the curtain at the Voters Service and Polling Center just inside the courthouse annex on Sixth Street.

But voting in person picked up on Nov. 7, and there was a line out the door of the polling center over the lunch hour.

Still, if the trend holds through Election Day, it would be in stark contrast to 2012 when 87 percent of the county’s 14,591 active voters cast ballots. The numbers were even higher in 2008 when 13,110 of the county’s 14,751 active voters, or 90 percent, cast ballots.

To reach Tom Ross, call 970-871-4205, email tross@SteamboatToday.com or follow him on Twitter @ThomasSRoss1