Early ballot returns a sign of high turnout

Judging by the number of ballots that have been returned to the El Paso County Election Department, turnout could be relatively heavy in the Nov. 3 mail-in ballot election.

Through Wednesday, the Election Department had received nearly 23 percent — 63,818  — of the 279,000 ballots that went out by mail the week of Oct. 13. That’s already more than the 59,371 ballots cast in the 2007 election. And Election Day is still a week away. “It’s a pretty decent turnout,” said Liz Olson, county election manager.

The high voter turnout could be due to several controversial measures  on the this year’s ballot, including Measure 2C, which  would raise property taxes of Colorado Springs residents.

A second measure written by anti-tax crusader Douglas Bruce, Issue 300, would phase out payments to the city from city-owned enterprises, including millions paid in lieu of taxes by Colorado Springs Utilities. Bruce has railed against the fees collected by the city’s Stormwater Enterprise as an illegal tax, but Issue 300’s effect on those fees is in dispute.

The 2C Measure would bring in about $46 million to the city while Issue 300 would deplete city coffers by about $27 million, various officials have said.

To accommodate voters, the Election Department at 200 S. Cascade Ave will be open this Friday, when most county offices are closed.

At the downtown location, residents can drop off ballots, obtain replacement ballots, change their addresses or vote on an accessible voting device.

Ballots can also be dropped off at the two outlying  county clerk offices. One is located in the Chapel Hills Mall next to JC. Penney and the other is located at 5650 Industrial Place, the southeast corner of Powers and Airport.

On Election Day, the downtown location will be open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. All the ballots have to be in  by 7 p.m. Tuesday in order to be counted.