June 07, 2012 02:15 AM UTC

Primary Election Ballots Arriving this Week

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• by: Colorado Pols

Check your mailbox!

Ballots will be arriving this week in advance of the all-mail primary election on June 26th.

From the Columbine Courier:  

Primary election ballots will begin arriving at South Jeffco addresses the week of June 4, and there will be many names listed but very few decisions to make, since there will be one or two contested races at the most on local ballots.

As previously announced, the June 26 primary is an all-mail election this year. Ballots will be mailed to all eligible voters registered with either the Democratic, Republican or American Constitution parties.

The deadline to turn in ballots is June 26. The general election will be Nov. 6. The registration deadline for the general election is Oct. 9.

While the ballots are going out by mail, voters may mail the ballots back or drop them off at service centers or drop-off sites after June 4 (see the box accompanying this story). Voters can also receive replacement ballots and vote in person.

In Jefferson County, five contests (out of a potential 19 races) have more than one candidate. Four are Republican races, and one is Democratic. There is only one candidate from the American Constitution Party for each race.

As noted by the Courier, there aren’t very many primary races on the ballot this cycle. South Jeffco Republicans will have to choose between either Loren Bauman or Justin Everett for the HD-22 nomination, while Republicans across the county can cast a ballot in the CU regent-at-large primary. A select few Republicans can also cast votes in the Republican primaries in Colorado house district 1 and congressional districts 1 and 2.

There are, however, no Democratic party primaries on the ballot this year – except for a handful of voters who live in the Jefferson County sliver of HD-1. Incumbent Jeanne Labuda is facing off against Corrie Houck for the majority Denver County seat.

The vast majority of Jeffco Democrats, then, should be able to breeze through their ballots:

If you are a Democrat and don’t live in House District 1, you will receive a ballot with no choices at all. Some people think that’s a waste of money, said Josh Liss, Jeffco deputy of elections.

“The No. 1 call we get is, ‘Why did you send this? There are no choices,’ ” said Liss.

Sending out ballots and other costs for the primary election will total between $400,000 and $600,000 for Jeffco, Liss said. But the county isn’t allowed to decide not to send out the mailings.

“The statute requires that if there are any contested elections for any party, then ballots have to go out for all the parties,” Liss said. The rule was upheld by a district court in connection with an El Paso County case just this month.