GLENWOOD SPRINGS, Colorado – Almost all registered voters in Garfield County received a postcard in the mail in the past week from the Garfield County Clerk providing notice of precinct or district changes.

It’s a notice required by the Secretary of State’s office every 10 years, after boundary lines are redrawn for congressional, state Senate and state House districts in response to new census data.

Garfield County Clerk Jean Alberico said she’s received calls from voters who are curious or concerned about the cards. She sent them out now so voters participating in party caucuses would know exactly what precinct they live in.

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“We wanted them to have something in hand to take to the caucuses,” she said.

However, the clerk’s office did not send cards to voters in four precincts – 20, 21 and 22 in and near Rifle and 24 in far western Garfield County. All the information for those precincts stayed the same, from precinct boundaries to the state House and Senate districts they are in.

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The cards spell out each voter’s status, giving their party registration, their original date of registering to vote in the county and their current preference on receiving mail ballots.

The card also contains a puzzling 10-digit number that’s simply labeled “Precinct.”

Alberico said just the last three digits of the number are the precinct number, as in 001 to 027. The preceding numbers are for the congressional district (3), state Senate district (08), state House district (57), and Garfield County (23).

The same district numbers are noted to the right of the 10-digit precinct number, in a more understandable listing.

Alberico said the form for the postcard came from the Colorado Secretary of State’s office, and she had little control over the layout.

Several voters have been confused by the “Return Service Requested” notation on the card. Alberico said that’s a notice to the postal service to send the card back to her office if the person the card was sent to has moved.

Voters should just hang onto the card, unless they have a change, such as a new address, a change to party affiliation or to be added to the permanent mail-in ballot list. To make a change, fill out the card, stick it in an envelope and send it to the clerk’s address on the front of the card.

Alberico said this is one of several mailings that will go out in the coming months to voters, including those who have missed several years of voting. Most of the mailings are aimed at tracking down voters, making sure their registration information is current and clearing voters from the list who have moved away.

“I think we drive people crazy with the mailings,” she said. It’s all about keeping her lists as accurate as possible.

Alberico said the county currently has 20,706 active voters and 4,703 inactive voters. She expects the number of active voters to climb to 23,000 or 24,000 closer to the time of the general election, as interest picks up in the political campaigns.