With less than a week to go before the Colorado Springs mayoral runoff election, voter turnout has outpaced participation at the same point in the last runoff election held eight years ago.

Data from the City Clerk’s Office show as of Tuesday 24.4%, or 76,514, of the city’s 313,693 active registered voters had returned their ballots, compared with 75,213 ballots returned at the same point in May 2015, the last time the city held a runoff election.

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Colorado Springs mayoral candidate Q&A: Wayne Williams

In that runoff, voters elected Mayor John Suthers to his first term, and in 2019 he resoundingly won reelection in the April regular election. Suthers leaves office June 6 after serving eight years as mayor.

City Clerk Sarah Johnson said by email Wednesday she expects the May 16 runoff to draw a turnout between 40% and 50%, based on current numbers.

More voters have returned their ballots for the May 16 election than at the same point ahead of the April 4 regular election, when 14.9% of voters had returned their ballots.

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Data show that in the past four regular municipal elections between 2015 and 2021, more residents voted in mayoral election years 2015 and 2019 than in years 2017 and 2021, when there were no mayoral races.

On April 4, Colorado Springs voters narrowed down their choice of mayoral candidates from 12 to two: Former Colorado Springs Councilman Wayne Williams and entrepreneur Yemi Mobolade. Last month, residents also elected four new councilmembers to the dais and extended the Trails, Open Space and Parks (TOPS) tax for another 20 years.

In the runoff, the candidate who earns a majority of votes, or more than 50% of votes cast, will be named mayor.

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The next man elected to the office will be the third strong mayor in the city’s history. The mayor acts as the city’s full-time chief executive, with the power to enforce laws and ordinances, create a strategic plan for the city and submit to the City Council an annual budget.

Johnson said while her office has no way to know how many ballots it will receive on Tuesday, Election Day, officials “expect to receive a large number of ballots” that day.

Those who still have not cast their votes for the runoff can return their ballots to the City Clerk’s Office in the City Administration Building at 30 S. Nevada Ave., Suite 101, or at a 24/7 ballot drop box by 7 p.m. Tuesday. It is too late to return ballots by mail, and postmarks will not count.

Residents who need a replacement ballot or other services can visit the City Clerk’s Office, open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day.

A full list of ballot drop box locations is on the city’s website at coloradosprings.gov/voterinfo.

Voters can also call 719-385-5901 with questions about the election.