{"id":79335,"date":"2026-03-30T22:44:44","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T22:44:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-begins-counting-ballots-for-april-7-election\/"},"modified":"2026-03-31T18:30:13","modified_gmt":"2026-03-31T18:30:13","slug":"cortez-begins-counting-ballots-for-april-7-election","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/cortez-begins-counting-ballots-for-april-7-election\/","title":{"rendered":"Cortez begins counting ballots for April 7 election"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"The
The outdoor ballot drop box in the west parking lot of City Hall is open 24 hours for voters to turn in their ballots. (Ann Marie Vanderveen\/The Journal)<\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/p>\n

Cortez election judges began the process of counting ballots Monday in an election that will determine the fate of five City Council seats and potential changes to the City Charter. City Clerk Danielle Wells said 5,979 ballots have been mailed.<\/p>\n

The city mailed ballots to voters March 16, and eight days remain for Cortez residents to turn them in. Voters will choose among 11 candidates for five City Council seats<\/a> and decide whether to approve changes to the City Charter<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Anyone 18 or older who has lived in Cortez for at least 22 consecutive days can vote in the election, provided their registration status is current. Because Colorado allows same-day registration, inactive voters or residents who have not registered can visit the Montezuma County Clerk and Recorder\u2019s Office at 140 W. Main St. or go to GoVoteColorado.gov through Election Day.<\/p>\n

Wells said voters who have not received their ballot by mail or who recently updated their registration can pick one up at City Hall, 123 E. Roger Smith Ave.<\/p>\n

After making their selections, voters can mail their ballots or drop them in one of two ballot drop boxes at City Hall.<\/p>\n

\u201cEither way is a secure way to vote,\u201d Wells said. She recommended using the drop boxes, noting that ballots mailed close to Election Day may arrive too late to be counted.<\/p>\n

A 24-hour drop box is in the west parking lot outside City Hall. Another drop box inside the City Hall lobby is available during business hours, Monday through Thursday from 7:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. to noon. Ballots must be received by 7 p.m. April 7.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve been checking every day,\u201d Wells said, adding that election judges will likely check the drop boxes multiple times a day as Election Day approaches. Results will be posted online the night of April 7 on the city\u2019s election page<\/a> and displayed on the front doors of City Hall.<\/p>\n

avanderveen@the-journal.com<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

remain for voters to cast their votes for City Council members and changes to the City Charter<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":79336,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[5737,5736,5735,5741],"tags":[28,29],"naviga_topic":[],"class_list":["post-79335","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-headlines","category-local-news","category-news","category-newsletter","tag-headlines","tag-newsletter"],"acf":[],"author_name":"dh_admin","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79335","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79335"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79335\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":79755,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79335\/revisions\/79755"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/79336"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79335"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79335"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79335"},{"taxonomy":"naviga_topic","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dh.durangoherald.com\/tj\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/naviga_topic?post=79335"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}