Blue Envelopes, White Envelopes: Votes in Loveland’s Special Election on Fracking Don’t Get Counted Because of Mess Up With Larimer County

So, with the latest election in Larimer County coinciding with Loveland’s special election on whether to have a 2-year moratorium on fracking, things got a little..... messed up.

Oh, brother.

Folks in Loveland received two ballots in the latest election(s)- ONE for the Larimer County primary, the other for Loveland’s special election on the fracking issue. Loveland’s ballot was to be returned in the BLUE (special) envelope, and the county’s was to go in the WHITE envelope. Turns out, some residents got the two envelopes mixed up; probably, like me, not thinking that they were going to go to two different places.

It seems about 40 (38 exactly) envelopes arrived at the county, that contained ballots for Loveland’s special election! The Reporter-Herald reported that Larimer County’s Clerk and Recorder Angela Myers had to discount those 38 votes. They will not be forwarded to Loveland to be counted, because they can’t be connected with the voter anymore!

So the Secretary of State stepped in on Tuesday afternoon, and made a special rule stating basically, that if Larimer County receives ANY MORE ballots for the Loveland election- they WILL be counted.

From The Reporter-Herald:

The new process is more labor intensive, and Myers said counting would continue following the ruling from the Secretary of State's Office, released around 3:45 p.m. Signature verification has taken place all day, but the county fell behind with the counting process, Myers said.

"This might mean a longer night for us, no doubt about it," Myers said.

It seems unclear, however, if TWO ballots came in one envelope to the county, or that Loveland received the 38 votes intended for the county? Either way, this probably does nothing to ease the frustration on both sides of the fracking argument in Loveland.

[Source: Reporter-Herald]