Colorado Politics

Final results of Denver election: Magic mushroom measure’s win confirmed

The Denver Elections Division released its final official results on Thursday from the May 7 general election. None of the outcomes changed after the military and overseas ballots were counted.

Initiative 301, which made Denver the first city in the nation to decriminalize psilocybin mushrooms, padded its lead in the final count, winning by 2,291 votes, up from the previous lead of 1,979.

In the Denver mayoral election, two-term incumbent Michael Hancock finished first, with 38.65% of the vote. Challenger Jamie Giellis finished second with 24.86%, thus placing them into the June 4 runoff election.

Initiative 300, which sought to repeal the city’s urban camping ban and assert the right of homeless people to live on the streets, lost decisively after being rejected by 81.19% of voters.

In the final tally, 186,394 of the city’s 470,538 registered voters returned ballots, a 39.61% turnout rate.

That’s a much higher turnout than the typical 30% of voters who cast ballots in a spring municipal election in Denver.

This year’s election saw an unusually high number of last minute voting. About 41 percent of all the mail ballots tallied were cast on election day.

For the complete list of final results, click here.

Chris Olson holds a sign near a busy intersection in downtown Denver on May 6 as he urges voters to decriminalize the use of psilocybin, the psychedelic substance in “magic mushrooms.”
(Photo by Thomas Peipert, the Associated Press)

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