ARAPAHOE COUNTY, Colo. — In-person voters on the first day in Arapahoe County outnumbered those in 2016 by three times, according to data released from that county’s clerk and recorder.
The first day in-person voting was allowed, 936 people were there, according to Clerk and Recorder Joan Lopez. There were 275 on the first day in 2016.
“Our busiest three locations did have a line of about 10 to 20 people waiting when they opened at 8 a.m., which for the first day of in-person voting is unusual in Arapahoe County,” the county’s elections director, Peg Perl said.
Arapahoe County wasn’t the only jurisdiction seeing a larger number of in-person voters on the first day. In Denver County, 600 voters cast their ballots on Monday, compared to 403 in 2016, a 48% increase. In Adams County, 451 voters arrived in person on Monday, compared to 268 on the first day in 2016.
In the Denver metro area, Jefferson and Douglas counties saw the largest increase of in-person voters on the first day compared to 2016. On Monday, 419 voted in Douglas County compared to 113 in 2016. Douglas County has four voting locations in 2020, compared to six facilities in 2016, according to county spokeswoman Wendy Holmes.
Jefferson County logged 789 in-person voters Monday, compared to 212 in 2016, a 272% increase.
“Anecdotally, most in-person voters yesterday did not need to be there (many surrendered their mail ballots when they came in),” Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder George Stern (D) tweeted. “We'll take your vote however you want to cast it!”
“While our model saved us from having any real lines yesterday, like many states had on day 1 of in-person voting, we WILL have lines in two weeks if the trend continues of people coming in who do not need to. So as always, however you choose to vote, we recommend voting early,” the tweet thread continued.
State elections officials said in 2016, 93% of Colorado voters returned their mail ballots and the remaining 7% of the 2.8 million people voted in-person.
According to Stern, 97% of voters in Jefferson County typically turn their ballots in through the mail or drop boxes. Perl gave a similar number for Arapahoe County.
“We are still hoping and expecting that our in-person turnout will be less than 3% of all voters in Arapahoe County,” Perl said. “What I’m hoping that we’re seeing is that folks because of the health concerns we’ve seen all fall…are spreading themselves out.”
In Arapahoe County, in-person voters are asked to wait in line outside of voting centers because of the pandemic, according to Perl. The county has taped off the sidewalk to allow for social distancing.
She said voters will be offered masks if they don’t have one and they’ll be offered hand sanitizer on the way in and on the way out.
“Our vote stations themselves are getting wiped down and sanitized in between every single voter,” Perl said.
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