Commissioner raises concerns about lack of ballot delivery in Falcon
(EL PASO COUNTY, Colo.) — FOX21 is your local election headquarters and ahead of the 2024 presidential primary election, some voters have yet to receive their ballots. El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Steve Schleiker said he is aware of the situation.
With less than 10 days until Super Tuesday, El Paso County Commissioner Carrie Geitner raised concerns at a Board of County Commissioners meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 27, that some voters in the Falcon area, including her, have not received their ballots.
“It’s a real concern to me,” Commissioner Geitner explained. “One of my neighbors sent me a text and said, ‘Hey, have you received your ballot? We have not received our ballots’ and so we have a problem with the Postal Service in Falcon. It’s a widely known problem by the community.”
Schleiker said he is aware a handful of people did not get their ballot in the mail and is trying to work with the post office to resolve the issue.
“One of my staff members who is a supervisor in our elections department lives out there and did not receive the ballot,” Schleiker explained. “As the Clerk and Recorder, I have some serious concerns about this. I have reached out to the Post Master and I was directed to two individuals who would return my email. I have followed up twice and I have yet to hear back.”
FOX21 News reached out to the post office for comment. They provided us with the following statement.
Our area facilities report no ongoing service issues, including those providing service to the Falcon area of Peyton, Colorado, which is reporting delivery as “current,” on a daily basis. The U.S. Postal Service is committed to the secure, timely delivery of the nation’s Election Mail and to fulfilling our role in the electoral process when public policy makers choose to utilize us as a part of their election system. We provide election officials with a secure, efficient, and effective means to enable citizens to participate in elections. We employ a robust and proven process to ensure proper handling of all Election Mail, including ballots. We will continue to monitor and work closely with Colorado’s election officials and look forward to next week’s successful election.
David Rupert
Manager, USPS Strategic Communications of WestPac Area
Should Coloradans wait for the Trump Supreme Court ruling before voting?
It is too late for the Clerk and Recorder to mail a new presidential primary ballot. If voters have not received one, they need to visit a voting and polling center before Tuesday, March 5.
While they are addressing the ballot issue in Falcon, the Clerk and Recorder’s Office is seeing a record turnout so far.
“We received 12,045 Democrat ballots, 27,233 Republican ballots, and 20,550 unaffiliated ballots,” Schleiker said.
Voter turnout has reached about 17% in El Paso County, and Schleiker expects it will exceed the average for this type of election by about 10%. Turnout for a presidential primary election is typically in the low 40% range for El Paso County.
Interactive Map of Secure 24-hour Mail Ballot Drop Boxes
Those who have not mailed in their ballots yet, need to drop them off at one of the 39 secure 24-hour mail ballot drop boxes throughout the county. A list of these locations is available here.
The Clerk & Recorder’s Office said there is still some confusion among unaffiliated voters who receive both a Democratic and Republican ballot. Unaffiliated voters are only allowed to vote once, those who submit two ballots will have both disqualified.
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