Unofficial Results from November General Election

The November 6th General Election was weighted with financial questions on both a state and local level. These are the unofficial results from the balloting with approximately 58% of statewide returns counted.

Prowers County Ballot 1A, raising taxes by $400,000 annually through a quarter per cent sales tax to help finance ambulance costs in the county was defeated by a vote of 2,102 against and 1,900 in favor.

Voters were also faced with ballot issue 4A which asked for a mill levy increase for Re-2 District taxes to raise up to $325,000 a year for 20 years in a general obligation bond to finance infrastructure improvements at the Lamar High School and Lincoln School. The vote was 1,691 in favor and 1,245 opposed.

The funds are intended to be used as a match to secure a BEST grant of $4,429,262 from the State of Colorado. The mill levy on residential, commercial, and agricultural land will raise the needed $3,950,000 over the 20 year life of the bonds for the improvements to such areas as new HVAC systems, improved security and monitoring devices and upgrades on weather resistant doors and windows as well as a new air-filtration system.

Voters in the Prowers County Hospital District decided against question 7A proposed by the Prowers Medical Center Board of Directors which would have eliminated term limits for board members. The vote was 2,693 opposed and 1,172 in favor.

Federal and state office voting covered a full slate of seats. The unofficial tally with 58% of the vote was as follows:

U.S. Congress District 4: McCormick-D-  95,663    Buck-R-163,195

Governor:                           Polis-D- 883,222             Stapleton-R-788,256

Secretary of State:           Williams-R-811,072          Griswold-D-862,205

Treasurer:                           Watson-R-805,893           Young-D-853,725

Attorney General:             Weiser-D-841,203              Brauchler-R-824,415

State Rep 64:                     Lewis-R-22,966                 Baird-D-7,597

District County-Court Judge, 15th Judicial District:

Retain Judge Michael Davidson:                       Yes 2,779      No 740

Retain County Court Judge Lane Porter:         Yes  2,893     No 695

State Amendments:

Amendment V:  Lowering the age requirements for members of the State Legislature from 25 to 21?   Yes-582,066   No-1,107,090

Amendment X:  Industrial Hemp Designation to be changed from a Constitutional to a Statutory Definition.   Yes-981,444     No- 635,416

Amendment Y:  Congressional Redistricting – Create an independent Redistricting Committee to oversee district maps drawn by nonpartisan legislative staff.  Yes-1,180,275     No-476,543

Amendment Z:  Legislative Redistricting – Amendment the state constitution replace the Reapportionment Commission with the Independent Legislative Redistricting Commission.    Yes-1,163,524     No-478,855

Amendment A: Prohibit Slavery and Involuntary Servitude in All Circumstances.  Remove language that currently allows slavery and involuntary servitude to be used as punishment for conviction of a crime.  Yes-1,076,264     No-583,607

Amendment 73:  Funding for Public Schools – Raise the state individual income tax rate for those with taxable incomes over $150,000 and increase the state corporate income tax rate.  For property taxes levied by school districts, set the assessment rate at 7% for residential properties and decrease the assessment rate to 24% for most nonresidential properties.  Yes-738,296    No-944,270

Amendment 74: Amend the constitution requiring the government to award just compensation to private property owners when a government law or regulation reduces the fair market value of the property.  Yes-789,036     No-898,109

Amendment 75:  Amend the constitution so any primary candidate or general election for state office directs more than one million dollars in support of their own election, then every candidate may accept five times the amount of contributions normally allowed.
Yes-560,103     No-1,088,320

Proposition 109:  Increase state debt by $3,500,000,000 without raising taxes or fees to fund specified road and bridge expansion and repairs throughout the state.  Yes-652,321    No-1,019,606

Proposition 110:  Increase state taxes by $768,700,000 for a 20 year period by increasing the state sales and use tax by $0.62% to fund municipal and county road and highway projects.  Yes-673,861  No-1,006,402

Proposition 111:  Amend the Revised Statutes to limit interest rates on payday loans to no more than 36%.  Yes-1,272,491   No-389,585

Proposition 112:  Amend the Revised Statutes to increase the distance between new oil and gas development to 2,500 feet.  Yes-724,980    No-982,866

Thanks again to the Prowers County Election Officials whose work enables our citizens to cast their ballots.

By Russ Baldwin