RBC | Continuing a long tradition, the majority of Rio Blanco County voters opted for a straight Republican ticket on the 2016 ballot.
Unofficial results as of press time show RBC choosing the Republican candidate in every race by a wide margin. As of press time Wednesday morning, Rio Blanco County Clerk and Recorder Boots Campbell said her office still had some ballots to count.
“We had more than 330 ballots turned in yesterday between noon and 7 p.m.,” she said. “It was unusual.”
About 74 percent of the county’s 4,673 registered voters submitted ballots, making voter turnout approximately the same as the 2012 election.
Rio Blanco County voters voted to retain all of the judges on the ballot, approved the controversial Proposition 106 (access to medical aid-in-dying medication), Amendment 71 (requirements for constitutional amendments), and Proposition 107 (presidential primary elections). Of all the races and ballot measures, Prop. 107 had the narrowest margin, 52.3 percent for versus 47.7 percent against.
Voters in Rio Blanco County said no to Amendments T and U (no exception to involuntary servitude prohibition and exempting certain possessory interests from property taxes), no to Amendment 69 (state health care system), Amendment 70 (state minimum wage), Amendment 72 (increase cigarette and tobacco taxes) and no to Proposition 108 (unaffiliated voter participation in primary elections).
Rio Blanco County went against statewide results in the presidential election, preferring the Trump/Pence ticket by an 80 percent margin, and Darryl Glenn over incumbent Michael Bennett by 78 percent. Amendment 70 passed in the state by 54 percent and Proposition 108 passed in the state with 52 percent.
Election results are available online at www.rbc.us/177/Elections.