Election Information

ELECTION and COVID-19

Due to the current health concern, the Town of Ignacio is encouraging Absentee Ballot voting at much as possible. Please call Town Hall or email the Town Clerk (tdunton@townofignacio.com) and leave a message with your email address or mailing address where the Absentee Ballot Application can be sent and a phone number we can call if we need clarification on the address you leave on the voicemail. The application can be emailed to you or mailed to you via postal service. Once you receive the Application for the Absentee Ballot, please complete it and mail it to PO Box 459, Ignacio, CO 81137 or drop it in the drop box at Town Hall, 540 Goddard Ave, Ignacio, CO 81137 or email it to the Town Clerk at tdunton@townofignacio.com. A ballot will then be mailed to you and you can return that ballot either by mail or by enclosing the ballot in an envelope and dropping it in the drop box at Town Hall. The last day to file your written request for an Absentee Ballot is Friday, April 3, 2020 by close of business day (5:00 PM). No ballot can be mailed to you without a completed Absentee Ballot application on file with the Clerk

ELECTION INFORMATION 2022

Please check out the Colorado Secretary of State page for state wide information about elections and voter registration. You can find voter registration forms there.

If you have moved or changed your name, you need to update your registration. All Town of Ignacio Municipal Elections are Polling Place Elections and are conducted at the Abel F. Atencio Community Room at Town Hall (570 Goddard Avenue). All county and state-wide elections in Colorado are now mail-in ballot elections only. If you are registered, you will automatically receive ballot information in the mail. You can update your registration information online: https://www.sos.state.co.us/voter-classic/pages/pub/home.xhtml. You can also download the Mail-In Voter Registration Form. Or you can pick up a voter registration form at Town Hall or the County Clerk’s Office.

OVERVIEW OF TOWN ELECTIONS

The Town of Ignacio is a Colorado Statutory Town and, as such, is subject to the Colorado Municipal Elections Code.

The Town of Ignacio Board of Trustees is made up of six Trustees and a Mayor; all seven members are elected individuals residing within Town Limits. All seven seats serve four-year terms. Elections are held on the first Tuesday in April during even-numbered years.

NEXT ELECTION

The next municipal election is scheduled for Tuesday, April 5, 2022.

VOTER REGISTRATION

In order to vote in a municipal election, an elector must be age eighteen or older, a citizen of the United States of America, must have resided within Town limits for at least thirty (30) days prior to the election, and must register as an elector. Registration may be made by submitting an application through the mail, a voter registration agency, a local driver's license examination authority, or you may register online via the Colorado Secretary of State website. You can also download and print a registration form and return it to the La Plata County Clerk or Ignacio Town Clerk up to and including Election Day. A voter may only be registered in one County; multiple registrations are deleted by the Colorado Secretary of State.

CANDIDATE ELIGIBILITY

To run for a Town Trustee seat, a candidate must be a registered elector, and must have resided within the Town for at least twelve (12) consecutive months.

From the Colorado Election Code, C.R.S. 31-10-301:

Every registered elector eighteen years of age or older on the date of the election may be a candidate and hold office in any municipality, unless another age is required by local charter or ordinance, if he has resided in the municipality or municipality and ward, as the case may be, from which he is to be elected for a period of at least twelve consecutive months immediately preceding the date of the election.

A "residence" is defined in C.R.S. 31-10-201(3)(a) as:

The residence of a person is the principal place or primary home or place of abode of a person. Principal or primary home or place of abode is that home or place in which his habitation is fixed and to which a person, whenever he is absent, has the present inention of returning after departure or absence therefrom, regardless of the duration of absence. In determining what is a principal or primary place of abode of a person, the following circumstances relating to such person may be taken into account: Business pursuits, employment, income sources, residence for income or other tax purposes, age, marital status, residence of parents, spouse, and children, if any, leaseholds, situs of personal and real property, and motor vehicle registration.

A candidate must be registered to vote in Ignacio prior to submitting his signed affidavit and nomination petition.

CANDIDATE NOMINATIONS

Nominations are made via signed petition. A nomination petition may be signed by any elector registered in Ignacio. Ten signatures from Ignacio-registered electors are required, however an elector may sign only as many petitions as there are contended seats. Petitions will be available from the Municipal Clerk. Following circulation, the candidate must provide a notarized signature on the petition, and must return the form to the Municipal Clerk.

Candidates must also file three (3) campaign finance reports with the Municipal Clerk. Campaign Finance forms will be provided by the Municipal Clerk. There are also rules pertaining to committees who contribute funds to candidates. Nominees are encouraged to contact the Municipal Clerk for more information on this topic. The Ignacio Municipal Clerk can be reached by calling Town Hall (970-563-9494).

ELECTION and COVID-19