Dear Editor,

I am writing in follow up to a report I made at the Gilpin County Board of Commissioners meeting back on July 5.

As of July 5, a total of 19 voted ballots had been received in the mail after the June 28 Primary Election, 17 of which were postmarked on or before June 18. I immediately reached out to Representative Joe Neguse’s office, who reached out to the congressional liaison to the USPS for follow up.

Since that time, a total of 27 ballots have been received that were postmarked on or before June 18. These ballots were voted and mailed in good faith that USPS would deliver in a timely manner, but weren’t.

The official answer I received from the liaison was that this ‘was an oversight’. Please note the issue did not originate in our local post offices in Black Hawk or Central City, rather it was a failure of the Denver processing center to process these ballots in a timely manner. Come November, 27 ballots can completely change the outcome of a race here in Gilpin!

As a result, I’m asking everyone to plan ahead for the November 8 election.

First, please make sure your voter registration is active and that your residential and mailing addresses are correct at www.GoVoteColorado.gov. (Your voter registration becomes inactive if we receive an undeliverable ballot or other election correspondence back in the mail.)

Second, make a plan to use a drop box when voting this fall. There are 3 convenient drop boxes in Gilpin (at the Old Courthouse, at the Rec Center, and at Rollinsville Public Works) but know you can drop your ballot in ANY of the 360+ drop boxes across the state. All drop boxes are required to be under 24/7 surveillance and a bipartisan team of judges will pick up your ballot, ensuring that depositing your ballot in a drop box is safe and secure.

And lastly, register at www.Gilpin. BallotTrax.net to receive a notification of when your ballot is mailed to you, and another when your ballot is received for signature verification and counting.

Any questions can be directed to elections@gilpincounty.org.

Thank you!

Sahari McCormick

Gilpin County Clerk & Recorder