Douglas County opens voter service centers for June 30 primary election

Douglas County voters who needed to fix a registration record, replace a ballot or vote in person had three county sites to turn to as the June 30 primary approached. The voter service and polling centers opened June 22 and remained available for residents who could not rely on mail voting or who needed ADA-accessible equipment.

The county placed the centers at Arapahoe Community College’s Sturm Campus in Castle Rock, Douglas County Parks and Trails in Highlands Ranch, and Parker Water and Sanitation in Parker. County officials said the centers were open Monday through Friday from June 22 to June 29, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., then Saturday, June 27, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., and again on Election Day, Tuesday, June 30, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The timing mattered because June 22 was the deadline to register to vote and still be mailed a ballot, and it was also the last suggested day to return a ballot by mail. After that, voters who still needed to register or update their information had to do so in person at a voter service and polling center. For anyone who waited too long to mail a ballot, the county’s centers offered a way to keep a vote in play.

Douglas County also said ballots had to be received by 7 p.m. on June 30. A postmark did not count. That made the county’s 23 ballot drop boxes an important backstop for voters who were traveling, busy on Election Day or worried about postal delays. The county said the drop boxes were spread across Douglas County so that more than 90% of residents lived within three miles of one, and each box was covered by 24/7 public live-stream video during the active election cycle.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold has said the June 30 primary is the statewide primary election date, and that unaffiliated voters receive both the Democratic and Republican primary ballots but may return only one. Affiliated voters receive only the ballot for their party. Douglas County also maintained a ballots-returned dashboard that was updated at least twice a day during the election cycle, adding another way to track how fast the county was moving toward the June 30 deadline.