Mayoral, council races today in Aspen
The Aspen Times
Municipal elections will be held from 7 a.m to 7 p.m. today in Aspen.
The race for two open City Council seats features four candidates: Jonny Carlson, Art Daily, Ann Mullins and Dwayne Romero. Voters are allowed to choose any two of the four rivals.
The mayor’s race includes six candidates: Maurice Emmer, L.J. Erspamer, Adam Frisch, Derek Johnson, Steve Skadron and Torre. Voters may only choose one of the six mayoral contenders.
A runoff, if necessary, will be held June 4. In the mayor’s race, if no candidate receives more than 50 percent of the ballots cast, the top two-getters will face each other in the runoff.
In the council race, a candidate must receive an “adjusted” 45 percent of ballots cast (or more) to avoid a runoff. The adjusted percentage is derived by taking the candidate’s actual percentage of the vote total and doubling it. Thus, if a candidate receives 26 percent of the vote, the adjusted percentage would be 52 percent and that candidate would avoid having to meet another candidate in a runoff.
Aspen City Clerk Kathryn Koch said registered city voters should cast ballots at the same place where they voted in the November presidential election. Polling places for today’s election are: the Rio Grande Meeting Room near the Pitkin County Courthouse and Galena Plaza; the west side of the Red Brick Recreation Center at 110 East Hallam St.; and the Pitkin County Health and Human Services building near the Aspen Valley Hospital campus off Castle Creek Road.
Voters must bring some sort of identification, such as a valid Colorado driver’s license. Other acceptable forms of ID include a valid U.S. passport or a recent copy of a utility bill or bank statement.
Those with questions about where they are registered to vote or which forms of ID are suitable are encouraged to call 970-920-5000 or 970-429-2713. Voters without an acceptable form of ID may be allowed to fill out a provisional ballot, but those ballots are not counted on election night.
Turnout is predicted to be slightly higher than in the spring 2011 municipal election, when about 1,700 city residents voted. In the absentee-voting period from April 22 to May 3, 1,060 people voted, either through mail-in ballots or in person. Koch said she expects more mail-in ballots to arrive early this week.
There are 6,354 active and inactive voters in the city, she said. An inactive voter is defined as someone who has not voted in the past two federal elections but who may still be eligible to cast a ballot.
Koch said if all goes well, the unofficial results will be tabulated and released by around 9 p.m.
