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More than 30,000 Vail Valley election ballots mailed last week, they’re already rolling in

Eagle County Clerk and Recorder Regina O'Brien helps a young voter cast his first ballot. The Clerk's office mailed more than 30,000 ballots last week, so voters should have ballots in hand by now.
Randy Wyrick | randy@vaildaily.com

Editor’s note: Find election coverage at http://www.vaildaily.com/election.

EAGLE — When the morning’s mail rolled into the Eagle County Clerk & Recorder’s office on Monday, Oct. 22, it was packed with so many election ballots it had to be hauled in on a cart.

That’s a good problem to have, Regina O’Brien, Eagle County Clerk & Recorder said.



“We have seen an uptick in voters registering, or making sure they’ve updated their registration,” O’Brien said.

Staffers in O’Brien’s office have been hammering in voter registration information for the past four weeks.

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“It has been busy for a while,” O’Brien said.

The Clerk’s office mailed more than 30,000 ballots on Monday, Oct. 15.

So far, they’ve seen 1,193 ballots returned, O’Brien said.

Long ballot

This year’s ballot is long, two pages. Along with all the races for local and state political offices and judge retention questions, voters will decide nine Constitutional Amendments and four statewide propositions.

In Eagle County, local ballot questions push that number to 11 local and statewide tax questions.

30,000 ballots mailed last week

Your ballot should have hit your post office box by now. Some voters reported receiving theirs by as early as last Wednesday, O’Brien said.

“That’s about the same number of registered voters we had in the primary,” O’Brien said.

They’ll continue to mail ballots until Oct. 29, the legal deadline, to make sure voters have time to vote and drop them off, O’Brien said.

If you’ve put off voting and it’s less than one week before Election Day, Nov. 6, then the postal service advises that voters do not mail their ballots back by regular mail, O’Brien said. Either drop it in the ballot box yourself or pay for your procrastination.

O’Brien said voters have sent ballots by UPS or FedEx to make sure they get to the Clerk’s office by Election Day.

If you want to mail yours, it’ll cost 71 cents — two First Class postage stamps.

Your ballot has to be in the Clerk’s office by 7 p.m. Election Day, No. 6. No exceptions. Postmarks and pure intentions do not count.

If you’re a registered voter and have not received a ballot, you’ll likely have to visit one of the Clerk & Recorder’s offices in Eagle, Avon or El Jebel to pick up a ballot in person.

You can also request ballots by calling 970-328-8715. Those will be mailed prior to Oct. 29, O’Brien said.

After Oct. 29, voters will need to stop by an Eagle County Voter Service and Polling Center and pick up a ballot.

They’re located at:

Avon: 100 W. Beaver Creek Blvd. in the Avon Center building.

Eagle: Eagle County Building at 500 Broadway Street.

Roaring Fork Valley: El Jebel at 0020 Eagle County Dr.

There are 24-hour ballot drop boxes outside of Clerk & Recorder offices in Eagle, Avon and El Jebel, as well as at the town of Basalt Municipal Building.

Staff Writer Randy Wyrick can be reached at 970-748-2935 and rwyrick@vaildaily.com.


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