The latest ballot returns for Colorado’s August 10 primary were released this afternoon:
Totals from Colorado’s Secretary of State office as of 3pm:
D-279462
R-314264
Total Active Voters:
D-817,458
R-855,667
Turnout Percentages:
D-34.2%
R-36.7%
The SOS Public Information Officer Rich Coolidge added this explanatory note to his email release:
“Colorado County clerks may begin processing (not tabulating) ballots 15 days before the election. All 64 counties should have a good sample of mail ballots tabulated after 7:00pm tomorrow evening. Remember, 46 counties are voting exclusively by mail, so ballots received Tuesday may not be included in that original release of results. The remaining 18 counties will still have mail results, but will also need to factor in votes cast at precinct polling places (like El Paso, Pitkin, Las Animas, etc) or at vote centers (like Weld, Park, Archuleta, etc).”
This follows today’s earlier poll results release from Public Policy Polling that gives Sen. Michael Bennet a modest lead over Democratic primary opponent Andrew Romanoff, while both GOP Gubernatorial and U.S. Senate races remain too close to call:
Democratic U.S. Senate Primary:
Sen. Michael Bennet 49
Andrew Romanoff 43
Undecided 9
GOP Gubernatorial Primary
Scott McInnis 41
Dan Maes 40
Undecided 19
GOP U.S. Senate Primary
Ken Buck 43
Jane Norton 45
Undecided 12
Observers expect the higher turnout to favor the candidates with higher name recognition–the so-called “establishment” candidates–although it is not clear whether late, potentially game-changing stories involving all three sets of top-of-the-ticket primaries will impact the eventual outcome. In two thirds of Colorado’s counties, all mail-in balloting will be conducted, and most ballots have been out for three weeks.
Democrats have already exceeded their highest primary turnout ever, and Republicans are on track to do the same.