The Arapahoe County Clerk and Recorder’s Office is seeking public comment on a proposal for 27 Voter Service and Polling Centers for the Nov. 6 General Election. The plan and a map of proposed locations is available at www.arapahoevotes.com/comment.
Interested citizens are invited to attend a public hearing and provide comment on the plan at 6 p.m., June 12 in the West Hearing Room of the Arapahoe County Administration Building at 5334 South Prince St., Littleton. Written comments will also be accepted online, by mail or email through June 30.
Under Colorado’s election model, active registered voters can expect to receive a mail-ballot in mid-October for the 2018 General Election. Citizens also can go in-person to any Voter Service and Polling Center in their county to register to vote, update registration, request a new or replacement ballot, or vote on an accessible tablet through Election Day. There are no assigned polling places.
Arapahoe County has identified 12 Voter Service and Polling Center locations to be open Oct. 22 – Nov. 6, and an additional 15 locations to open Nov. 3, 5 and 6. By law, the County is required to provide only 25 locations on Election Day, but it will surpass this number with 27 VSPCs to offer greater convenience and ballot access to citizens.
New this year, Arapahoe County will open all VSPCs from 7 a.m. - 7 p.m. on Monday, Nov. 5 and Election Day, Tuesday, Nov 6. This approach is known as ‘Election Day Squared’ and is a response to voter behavior in Nov. 2016, when 78 percent of VSPC visits were on the last two days of voting. On all other dates, VSPCs will be open 10 a.m. – 6 p.m. weekdays and 9 a.m. – 3 p.m., Saturdays.
The proposed facilities are primarily schools, churches and public buildings, as well as two technical colleges. Sites will generally have 1,000 – 5,000 useable square feet to accommodate voter check-in stations with laptop computers, accessible touch-screen tablets and voting booths.
“It is a significant challenge to identify voting locations that meet our criteria for size and accessibility,” said Clerk and Recorder Matt Crane. “We truly appreciate our community partners who have agreed to loan us large spaces and open their doors to voting for up to two weeks this fall.”
Citizens may submit written comments regarding the selection of VSPC locations at www.arapahoevotes.com/comment, by mail to the Clerk and Recorder’s Office at 5334 South Prince St., Littleton, CO 80120, or by email to clerksocial@arapahoegov.com.
For more information or to request a printed copy of the plan, contact the Elections Division at 303-795-4511. For election updates, please visit www.arapahoevotes.com, like ArapahoeVotes on Facebook or follow @arapahoeclerk on Twitter.
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