There’s no answer yet on whether Aspen will have a runoff election in June.Election officials have until this evening to figure out whether twenty-three ballots are valid. They’ve already confirmed that three qualify to be counted.
“We had two voters who came and signed the affidavit and brought ID’s,” said Aspen City Clerk Linda Manning late Wednesday afternoon. “So we were able to cross two names off the list. And then one of our provisional voters we were able to verify with the county, and so they have been confirmed.”
Once Manning knows the status of all the other ballots, valid ones will be added into the final tally. Then officials will do the math to figure out if there needs to be a runoff between Bert Myrin and Mick Ireland for the remaining Aspen City Council seat. Myrin is currently about a dozen votes away from winning the seat outright, but that qualifying amount will change as officials confirm the final overall number of votes cast.
As for Referendum 1, the main planner for prolific landowner Mark Hunt did not respond to a request for comment Wednesday. Before the election, Mitch Haas had this prediction...if Referendum 1 passed: “It’s going to be really bizarre when someone comes in and gets a two foot side yard setback, and suddenly that whole approval’s got to go to the electorate.
Basalt planner Alan Richman says he’s not surprised the charter amendment was approved. Richman didn’t support it but believes the amendment might have a positive impact if it slows down the pace of change. The amendment requires a public vote for certain development projects.
