Last week, on Oct. 17, representatives of Norwood Fire Protection District (NFPD) let the San Miguel Basin Forum know that there’s an issue with mail-in ballots. They said then that San Miguel County sent out two different ballots, one with just the NFPD mill levy question and the other with all the issues.
“People that received both ballots should only complete the 'all issues’ ballot and return,” Chief John Bockrath shared with the Forum last Thursday. “If they complete both ballots, or just the NFPD ballot, the vote will not be counted.”
Bockrath added that there were “90 such ballots sent out and they were only sent to people with two or more residences, either within San Miguel or Montrose counties, but their primary residence is outside these counties.”
He said 99 second homeowners that live out of state will receive both ballots.
“Since they live primarily out of state, they cannot vote on state issues,” he said. “But, they can vote on the NFPD mill levy, since it directly affects their real property. They need to use the NFPD-only ballot, not the all issues.”
Bockrath told the Forum he apologized for any and all confusion created for voters. He said the clerks at San Miguel County were also very confused.
However, the Forum spoke with San Miguel County Court Clerk Michael Wyszynski last Friday, and Wyszynski said there’s no issue or confusion.
According to Wyszynski, he was at an election judge’s training on Oct. 16-17. He said the issue at hand was with SMART, San Miguel County’s ballot issue 3A, dealing with transportation and the gondola. He said in that training participants spoke about people living in Telluride but having Mountain Village property. Those people would get two ballots, one with the SMART issue and one with other issues.
He said someone present at the election judge’s training got confused and thought Norwood would have a similar situation with their fire protection ballot question. In a panic, they called Bockrath before fully understanding the issue.
“I think what happened is that they extrapolated the SMART issue into the NFPD issue, and they’re not the same,” he said. “They’re completely different.”
He also said he verified the list of those receiving Norwood ballots before they were sent to print.
“If you hear of someone who lives in the (Norwood Fire Protection District) who got a regular ballot and the (fire district) ballot issue, I’d love to get their name,” he said. “That should not happen. … There is no problem, except for the one people created. The hiccup was a SMART issue.”
Ballots were mailed to voters on Oct. 11.
Wyszynski said the SMART situation is “fascinating,” but unique to Mountain Village. Those electors can vote on SMART, but it has to do with owning Mountain Village property. Those property owners are getting two ballots.
And, Wyszynski already has a plan for that. The clerk's office will separate and count only one ballot. They’re making sure that voters only submit one vote for the SMART question.
He added that the San Miguel County Clerk’s office has full transparency. All are welcome to ask questions, learn about the election process, or get further clarification.
