Making it as easy as possible to vote
Gilpin County Management
There were a couple of election-related issues discussed at Tuesday’s meeting of the Gilpin County Commissioners, which in and of themselves weren’t terribly momentous, but served as a reminder that momentous events lie ahead.
County Attorney Petrock mentioned during his report that there is an election challenge to one of the Sheriff’s candidates that will probably be heard at District Court this week. The Clerk & Recorder is responsible for certifying candidates according to state statutes, but as with all statutes enacted by the Colorado General Assembly, there is always some gray area that requires interpretation.
Once those administrative issues are resolved, it will be on to the primary election campaign. A number of candidate forums are scheduled by various bodies, to be held in various venues around the County. Although the County itself doesn’t have anything much to do with those, we’re still very glad they are being held; it’s important that people get to know as much as they can about the various candidates before they make their decisions.
And those decisions are coming up very quickly indeed; one of the other matters on the Commissioners’ agenda was a resolution that would allow early voting for the primary election. The election itself is August 10th (so the Commissioners won’t be meeting that day), with early voting at the Courthouse in Central City the week prior. Of course, a lot of Gilpin County residents have opted for mail-in ballots as well, and those will be mailed out in the same time frame.
But for the first time, as a result of the resolution passed at Tuesday’s meeting, early voting will be offered at the Community Center, on Saturday, July 31st, from 9 to 3:30. The same technology that allows us to use Vote Centers – any voter from any precinct can vote at any site – allows our Clerk & Recorder’s office to conduct early voting at the Community Center as easily as at any other County facility, even the Old Courthouse here in Central City.
A similar resolution authorized early voting at the Community Center on October 23rd, just before the general election November 2nd.
Having early voting at the Community Center – and on a Saturday – is just another way the Clerk & Recorder’s office is working to maximize voter turnout, while still guaranteeing the integrity of the electoral process.
And the electoral process is really all the County can be involved in – the political side of the process is something quite different. Still, it obviously affects all the County employees; frankly, it’s a pretty nervous time for us all.
While we all recognize that we work for the citizens of Gilpin County, there’s always some candidates who talk about doing away with this department head or that – or sometimes even whole departments!
These are all (well, most of them) legitimate and fair points for discussion; while the County functions as a political subdivision of the state, and most of our functions are largely mandated (though not always funded) by the state, there is always a lot of flexibility in how those functions are carried out.
So the County – and particularly the Clerk & Recorder’s office – will make it as easy as possible to vote. It’s up to the citizens as to who – and what – they vote for.