People in Denver were still waiting to vote at 10:00 PM because of computer breakdowns, ballot shortages and other issues that likely should never have been a factor. When you can listen on the radio to the declared victor for governor or other issue races - while still waiting to cast your vote - it makes a mockery of the process. Talk about instilling a feeling of worthlessness to a person's vote. Denver Mayor Hickenlooper spent the night apologizing and scrambling to explain how the Denver Election Commission failed to prepare for the day.
Thankfully Boulder County did not grab headlines like in 2004 for delayed ballot counting or any major computer screw-ups. However, the County website set up to display results is decidedly ugly and less user-friendly than I prefer. Do we really need to see a breakdown of registered votes and their turnout percentages for various constituencies first? If we're bothering to use the County's website at all, we're looking for County ballot issue and candidate race info first.
To see results for eastern Boulder County issues and races, scroll down and look to the left side of the page. Of course, theses are not yet "official" results.
Three taxes failed that I had advocated for in the Yellow Scene this month: 2B in Longmont, 2A in Louisville and 2A in Superior. The anti-tax mentality won out over the rationale and pragmatic reasons for each. Longmont refused to tax overnight, out-of-town visitors; Louisville avoided the ability to tax out-of-town major purchases, and Superior, the worst of all, simply refused to step up and start to fund their own library services.
2C in Lafayette has passed as well as the Boulder Valley School District Bond; both overcoming deep skepticism that the authority/money granted will be handled appropriately by officials. More on 2C as we see how Lafayette City Council words the ordinance it will now create.
I must say Superior's vote surprises me most of all. What's up with that? Read Superior Trustee Jeff Chu's imploring letter to the editor of the Superior Observer asking for 2A's passage.
Did any results surprise you? Anger you? Anyone ready to demand a recount? I'm stuck on this Superior vote...
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2 comments:
Dan,
Weren't you surprised that the County 1A failed, especially with Commissioner Toor stumping for it and cities endorsing it?
Actually for Lafayette, the 2B defeat was the most significant as voters chose to support the current process for choosing advisory boards. This is an ongoing process as new members are chosen quite often and advisory boards have quite an impact on policy making.
Dan - I agree that Superior turning down a library is a head scratcher. Maybe the citizens feel they can get away with poaching Louisville's terrific new facility? Maybe they didn't want property tax to fund it, but would have supported a sales tax? Not sure, but how can you NOT support a library in your town??
Dave Belin
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