The final unofficial results from Tuesday’s special election show an overwhelming number of Colorado Springs voters oppose the Karman Line annexation.

The completed ballot count announced by the City Clerk’s Office Wednesday showed that 81.9% of voters were against Colorado Springs keeping the nearly 1,900 acres of land east of the city limits that the City Council annexed earlier this year.

There were 82,219 votes cast in the special election. Turnout was less than a quarter of the city’s 335,000 registered voters, but the turnout rate was higher than it was in April for the City Council elections.

Local investors and developers proposed using the land to build 6,500 homes and a mixed-use commercial space. The addition was a “flagpole” annexation that used Bradley Road to connect the property to the city.

City Council voted 7-2 in January to approve the annexation. The vote was immediately followed by a successful petition drive that gathered tens of thousands of signatures to force the referendum vote by residents who opposed the location and water demands of the annexation.

Nancy Henjum and Dave Donelson were the two councilmembers who voted against Karman Line when it came up in January. Henjum said Wednesday that the results were a clear sign that voters wanted logical growth for Colorado Springs.

“They understand that the cost to the city outweighs any benefit to the city. They are paying attention to the long term finite resource of water in our region,” Henjum said. 

The last time a ballot issue in Colorado Springs received more than 80% of the vote was in 2017, when voters amended the city charter to require a supermajority of the electorate to approve the sale of any significant portion of a city-owned utility.

Tuesday’s results were similar to the last time Colorado Springs held a one-time, off-cycle special election. In August 2012, 82.4% of voters approved a city proposal to lease Memorial Hospital to the University of Colorado Health network.

Colorado Springs will accept military and overseas ballots through June 25, as well as letting voters cure ballots with a signature issue. The final election results will be certified on June 27.