The U.S. Postal Service is investigating why hundreds of ballots were never delivered to southwest Colorado voters in what turned out to be an exceptionally close primary election.
In all, 376 voters in Dolores County did not receive their original mail ballots for last month’s elections, according to the Secretary of State’s office. That amounts to nearly a quarter of the active voters in the rural county.
The error is especially striking given the outcome of the Republican primary in House District 58, which includes Dolores County. A recount is underway in that race because the winning candidate leads by only three votes. HD58 also includes portions of seven other counties.
The hundreds of ballots appear to have been lost while the U.S. Postal Service was moving them from the printer’s offices in Seattle to a mail facility in Albuquerque, according to state officials. There is no evidence or indication that any of the ballots were stolen or that anyone attempted to vote with them.
