An effort that would continue coordinated elections with Garfield County while still allowing Silt the ability to hold its own elections, if it chooses, is a question going before town voters on the Nov. 8 ballot.

According to a Silt news release, local town voters will be asked if they would like to change three parts of Silt’s Home Rule Charter regarding its town elections.

“The town of Silt Town Clerk would still play a key role in the election process by providing ballot content and following the guidelines as provided for in the election laws of the state,” the release states. “The county would take on the responsibility of including our candidates/questions on the ballot, mailing out ballots and TABOR notices and counting and tabulating results of those ballots returned.”

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Many town/cities throughout the state have been making this same change to coordinate local elections through their counties, the release states. Some of the benefits from this change would include:

• A reduction in the overall cost to the town of Silt since the county will already be holding an election;
• Less in-house town staff time required as the county already has an election team that’s well-versed in the process;
• A more streamlined process with the use of the county’s voting machines, judges and staff members who do elections on a continuous basis; and,
• A potential overall increase in voter turnout which has been a struggle for many years in Silt. The thought is that people would be more engaged in voting on Silt questions if there are other issues of interest on the same ballot.

In addition, “The terms for the Mayor and Trustees which currently end in April of 2024 and 2026 would be extended and staggered to match the new election date in November of odd-numbered years beginning in 2025 and 2027 based on the end of each member’s term,” the release states.