More ballots from women; El Paso County topped all

In a low-turnout election, women returned more ballots than men, according to a preliminary count released Wednesday morning.

Clerks issued 3,233,526 ballots across Colorado and 36.5 percent, or 1,181,314, were returned as of 7:16 a.m., according to the Colorado secretary of state’s office. Across the state, 619,054 women returned ballots, compared with 555,332 men. There were 6,928 ballots returned by people of unknown gender.

People between the ages of 41 and 60 returned the most ballots.

Several factors played into this year’s puny turnout, according to the secretary of state’s office. There were no statewide ballot measures. Six rural counties did not hold elections. In some counties, voters in districts without issues or races did not participate, including about 50,000 people in Arapahoe County. (For the 2016 presidential election, about 72.1 percent of Colorado registered voters returned their ballots.)

Secretary of State spokeswoman Lynn Bartels said the vote has not yet been officially certified. The window for ballots cast by members of the military serving overseas to reach clerks remains open. Additionally, voters whose signatures were challenged have eight days to fix their ballot.

In Denver, 137,016 ballots were returned, according to the same preliminary accounting. Women had turned in more ballots. Ballots were returned by 76,908 Democrat voters, 20,661 Republicans and 37,601 unaffiliated people. Voters from other parties made up the difference.

El Paso County had the highest turnout with 154,863 ballots returned, followed by Denver and Jefferson counties. The historically anti-tax county bucked its stereotype on Tuesday, approving $14.5 million in spending for transportation and other projects by a landslide. The county had 75,146 Republican ballots, 43,304 unaffiliated ballots and 34,117 Democrat ballots returned.