Pitkin County’s election workers have settled into their new home. Aspen Public Radio’s Elise Thatcher swung by Thursday to check it out.
The Pitkin County Clerk and Recorder’s Office is snugly tucked into Aspen’s Ute City Bank Building. Officials held an open house Thursday evening so voters know where to get election information, and to make sure residents know how to use new voting machines.
“Instead of being given a flat paper ballot, you’ll be given this card that is programmed with the ballot style and all the races and questions you’re entitled to vote on,” said elections worker Kelly Cury.
Voters then swipe the card, vote on a touch screen and print off a completed ballot. All current registered voters will still receive mail-in ballots. New ballot counting machines will be much faster and able to tally 400 ballots a minute, shaving hours off how long it’ll take to get election results, according to clerk and recorder Janice Vos Caudill. She said without the new machines, she doesn’t think her office would have had a final tally the night of the upcoming fall presidential election.
