About a week after Colorado Springs’ April 4 municipal election, city clerk’s officials are still accepting a small number of ballots before certifying and announcing final results by Friday.

The ‘post-election period’

During this “post-election” period, City Clerk Sarah Johnson’s office is accepting, but not yet processing, ballots from military and overseas residents through 5 p.m. Wednesday. The clerk is also allowing voters who did not sign their ballot envelopes, and those who have signature discrepancies, to cure those discrepancies by 5 p.m. Wednesday so their ballots are counted, Johnson told the City Council on Monday.

Colorado Springs city election: Mayor’s race likely headed to a runoff between top 2 vote-getters

As of Monday morning, Johnson said her office had received about 66 cured ballots and seven military or overseas ballots that have not yet been processed. Those ballots remain unopened and are placed in a locked ballot box until they are ready to be processed, she said.

Other such ballots arriving throughout the week will also remain unopened and placed in the locked ballot box until they are counted Wednesday evening.

Additional ballot processing and certification of election results

Election officials will process those additional ballots after 5 p.m. Wednesday and will post updated results to the city website, coloradosprings.gov, later that evening, Johnson said.

The final election results will be certified by Friday, according to a message posted on the election results webpage. Clerk’s spokeswoman Jennifer Schreuder said in an email on Monday officials tentatively plan to certify election results Thursday afternoon and could post final results the same day.

Once results are certified, Johnson’s office will officially declare a mayoral runoff election, scheduled for May 16.

Colorado Springs city election: City Council gets 4 new members

Colorado Springs voters back TOPS tax extension, according to early results

The May 16 mayoral runoff election

Unofficial results show the two top mayoral vote-getters in the regular election are Yemi Mobolade and Wayne Williams. They are likely to face each other in the second election that will determine who Colorado Springs’ next mayor will be.

More Information

There are additional opportunities to hear from mayoral runoff candidates at debates scheduled ahead of the May 16 election.

The Rotary Club of Colorado Springs is hosting a Colorado Springs mayoral runoff debate on Friday, April 21, from 11:45 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The event will take place at the Doubletree by Hilton, 1775 Cheyenne Mountain Blvd.

Rotary Club members and guests must register for the event. Registration is $30 and can be paid at the door or online at tinyurl.com/COSMayorsDebate.

Registration ends Monday, April 17, at 5 p.m.

The event will also be livestreamed on the Rotary Club of Colorado Springs’ YouTube channel: tinyurl.com/COSMayorsDebateStreaming

A recording of the debate will also be available on YouTube after the event: tinyurl.com/COSMayorsDebateRecording

?

El Pomar’s Forum for Civic Advancement is partnering with The Gazette, KOAA News 5 and the Colorado Springs Chamber & EDC to host a mayoral runoff debate on Sunday, April 30, from 4:15-6 p.m. 

The event will take place at the Penrose House Conference Center, 1661 Mesa Ave.

In-person seating is limited to 200 people. Those interested in attending should RSVP online by April 20.

The Gazette and KOAA will livestream the event.

For more information, to register, to submit a question or to watch the livestream, visit thestatedebate.com.

Unofficial results posted at 6:30 p.m. on April 5 show Mobolade, an entrepreneur and political newcomer, had 29.8% of the vote. Williams, a Colorado Springs city councilman, garnered about 19.2% of votes, unofficial returns show.

If those results hold through the final tally, the candidates will go head-to-head in the runoff election because neither earned more than 50% of the vote.

Johnson’s office is preparing to send out new ballots for the runoff election to the approximately 311,900 active registered voters within city limits between April 21 and May 1, she told the council on Monday. 

Because there is a short window of time between the two elections, “we will definitely be sending (ballots) out as close to the front end of that as we possibly can,” Johnson said.

Voters will only decide between the final two mayoral candidates in the May 16 runoff election, she said. People who voted in the April 4 general election, as well as those who did not, will have a chance to vote in the runoff.

Voters can mail their ballots to the City Clerk’s Office or return their ballots in one of the city’s 26 secure 24/7 ballot drop-off boxes by 7 p.m. on May 16, Johnson said. Postmarks will not count.

A possible recount ahead

As of Monday, no candidate in the April 4 race for mayor, at-large City Council or District 3 City Council seats had formally requested a recount, she told the council. They have until Friday to do so.

Colorado Springs mayoral candidate Sallie Clark considers requesting recount: ‘It’s not over until it’s over’

Per Colorado law, a mandatory recount is triggered if the margin between the two top finishers is 0.5% or less of the leading candidate’s vote total. A candidate may request a discretionary recount for election results that don’t fall into that threshold, which the candidate would pay for.

On Friday, mayoral candidate Sallie Clark sent a letter to Johnson saying she may request a discretionary recount of the April 4 municipal election and asked for more information on the estimated cost of a recount.

Unofficial results show Clark, who was a close third in the mayoral race, garnered about 17.8% of the vote, trailing Williams by 1,546 votes.

Clark had not received additional information from Johnson’s office about the estimated cost of a potential recount as of about 3 p.m. Monday, according to an email exchange between the candidate and the clerk.