Phillips County turns out 85 percent of active voters

Phillips County electors cast 2,351 ballots in the general election on Nov. 5. That is an 82 percent voter turnout if gauging it from the 2,871 active registered voters. If using the 3,123 total registered voters, it is 75 percent.

Results will not be considered official by the Secretary of State's office until the County canvasing board has completed its process and the County Clerk's Office files its final report with the State.

Electors had an exceptionally lengthy ballot because of retentions for court justices and judges and numerous issues to consider for seven State Constitutional amendments, two matters referred by the state legislature, and five propositions to amend State Statutes.

Electors voted to retain two of the three Colorado Supreme Court justices and five Colorado Court of Appeals judges by wide margins. The exception was Justice Monica M. Márquez whose unofficial favorability vote to retain was 869 (50.38 percent) to 856 (49.62 percent) to not retain.

For most issues, electors were primarily for or against the measures by wide, decisive margins. Exceptions are Amendment 80, Constitutional Right to School Choice, where unofficial votes in favor were 1,136 (52 percent) and votes against were 1,050 (48 percent).

As for constitutional amendments, county electors favored constitutional amendments for property tax exemptions for veterans with disabilities, judicial discipline procedures and confidentiality, and the constitutional bail exception for first degree murder. They voted against repealing the definition of marriage, modifying constitutional election deadlines, and the constitutional right to abortion.

For legislature referrals, electors favored retaining additional sports betting tax revenue. They voted against the firearms and ammunition excise tax.

For statutory amendments, they favored parole eligibility for crimes of violence and funding for law enforcement. They voted against prohibiting bobcat, lynx and mountain lion hunting, establishing veterinary professional associates and establishing all-candidate primary and ranked choice voting general elections.