March 24, 2023 11:00 AM UTC

Denver Ballot Returns are Pretty Miserable

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• by: Colorado Pols

The race for Denver Mayor is coming down to its final week, but voters are still holding onto their ballots like a lottery ticket that they aren’t totally sure isn’t a winner.

Election Day is April 4, which means the last day to safely drop a completed ballot in the mail is Wednesday of next week. As of today, only about 5% of ballots in Denver have been returned by voters.

Yes, five percent. As in, more than four but less than six.

The last time Denver had an open race for Mayor was in May 2011, when Chris Romer (28% of the vote) and Michael Hancock (27%) earned enough votes to make the runoff election. James Mejia finished in third place with 25.7% of the vote.

In May 2011, voter turnout reached a little more than 38% of all eligible voters. This was before Colorado instituted all-mail balloting, of course; in theory, making it easier to vote in 2023 should increase voter turnout [*Denver did start all-mail balloting for the first time in 2011]. On the other hand, a ballot that includes 16 candidates for Mayor does make things a bit more complicated when you’re trying to make a decision as a voter.

If you are a Denver voter and you still haven’t cast a ballot — and according to the data, that’s pretty much everyone — you can CLICK HERE for more information on how to vote.