UPDATE: As of mid-afternoon Tuesday, Garfield County Clerk & Recorder Jean Alberico said she was expecting a 70 percent turnout of county voters as balloting concluded for today’s election. That’s roughly the same as for the 2014 midterm election.

By 2 p.m., Alberico said election judges had fielded over 20,000 ballots, out of 33,169 that were sent out to registered voters last month.

“It’s been steady at the courthouse (in Glenwood Springs), and there haven’t been long lines,” Alberico said.

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Alberico said she expected to have the first batch of results reported shortly after 7 p.m., which she anticipated would represent about 90 percent of the votes cast. Counting will continue throughout the evening for ballots coming in today from polling locations across Garfield County.

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Tuesday is Election Day, the last day to return mail ballots that were sent to all registered voters in Garfield County and throughout Colorado in mid-October.

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Ballots can still be dropped off until 7 p.m. Tuesday at any of the designated Election Day Voter Service and Polling Centers, or at town halls and drop boxes located throughout Garfield County.

Same-day voter registration and balloting is also available at the in-person voter service centers in all six municipalities throughout the county.

Final balloting will help determine several key local and state candidate races, including for Garfield County commissioner, clerk and recorder and sheriff, and the Colorado House District 57 and 3rd Congressional District seats.

On the state level, voters will decide who will be the next governor, attorney general, state treasurer and secretary of state, among other races.

Also on the ballot locally are a slew of ballot questions related to taxes, from funding for the Roaring Fork Transportation Authority, the Garfield School District Re-2 and three area fire and emergency services agencies, to revenue and spending relief measures for Colorado Mountain College and the Garfield County Public Library District.

Statewide, voters will be deciding whether to impose new, more stringent setbacks for oil and gas facilities, as well as funding for education and transportation/highway projects, plus several other referred measures.

As of Monday morning, out of 33,169 ballots that were mailed out in Garfield County, a total of 14,329 had been completed and returned, for a 43 percent turnout so far.

Garfield County Clerk and Recorder Jean Alberico reported that, among those, 4,186 have come from registered Democrats, 5,044 from Republicans, and 4,921 from unaffiliated voters.

Limited Clerk’s Office services Tuesday

The Garfield County Clerk and Recorder’s Office will offer limited services on Election Day, Tuesday, Nov. 6. There will be no motor vehicle services; no marriage licenses issued; no requests for birth or death certificates; and no access to real estate searches.

The office is open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. for election services only, but real estate recording is available from 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Motor vehicle and recording services resume as usual on Wednesday.