2024 Election: What's on the ballot and where to vote in Otero County

OTERO COUNTY — In addition to deciding on many key federal and state races, one state constitutional amendment, and multiple state-wide ballot issues, voters in Otero County will decide on leadership for county offices and which judges to retain.

News5 is helping you prepare for the November 5, 2024 Election with guides to find out what's on the ballot, what it means to you, and where to deliver your ballot across the region.

Key Dates and Deadlines

Fri, Oct. 11: First Ballots Mailed Out to Colorado Voters & Ballot Drop-offs Open
*See County Clerk's Office for locations
Mon, Oct. 28: Last Day to Register to Vote and Receive a Mailed Ballot
Mon, Oct. 28: Last Day to Mail a Ballot to meet Election Day deadline
Tues, Nov. 5: Election Day - Ballots Due by 7:00 p.m.
Wed, Nov. 13: Military/Overseas Ballot Due Delivered by Date
Fri, Nov. 15: Deadline for Counties to Tabulate All Ballots
Tues, Dec. 10: Last Day to Complete a Recount

Not sure if you are registered to vote in Colorado? Use the state's Find My Voter Registration system.

See the Otero County Sample Ballot (version 1)
See the Otero County Sample Ballot (version 2)

You can find an up-to-date list of locations for ballot drop-offs and Voter Polling and Service Locations from the Otero County Clerk & Recorder's site. Days and times of operation vary by location.

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Information from the Otero County Official Sample Ballot for the 2024 Election

Statewide Amendment & Propositions:
Ballot questions referred by the general assembly or any political subdivision are listed by letter, and ballot questions initiated by the people are listed numerically. A ballot question listed as an "amendment" proposes a change to the Colorado constitution, and a ballot question listed as a "proposition" proposes a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes. A "yes/for" vote on any ballot question is a vote in favor of changing current law or existing circumstances, and a "no/against" vote on any ballot question is a vote against changing current law or existing circumstances.

The information for each proposition comes from the 2024 State Ballot Information Booklet (aka The Blue Book) compiled by the Legislative Council of the Colorado General Assembly

Amendment G (CONSTITUTIONAL)(Vote Yes/For or No/Against)

Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning the expansion of eligibility for the property tax exemption for veterans with a disability to include a veteran who does not have a service-connected disability rated as a one hundred percent permanent disability but does have individual unemployability status?

Amendment H (CONSTITUTIONAL)(Vote Yes/For or No/Against)

Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning judicial discipline, and, in connection therewith, establishing an independent judicial discipline adjudicative board, setting standards for judicial review of a discipline case, and clarifying when discipline proceedings become public?

Amendment I (CONSTITUTIONAL)(Vote Yes/For or No/Against)

Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning creating an exception to the right to bail for cases of murder in the first degree when proof is evident or presumption is great?

Amendment J (CONSTITUTIONAL)(Vote Yes/For or No/Against)

Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution removing the ban on same-sex marriage?

Amendment K (CONSTITUTIONAL)(Vote Yes/For or No/Against)

Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution concerning the modification of certain deadlines in connection with specified elections?

Amendment 79 (CONSTITUTIONAL)(Vote Yes/For or No/Against)

Shall there be a change to the Colorado constitution recognizing the right to abortion, and, in connection therewith, prohibiting the state and local governments from denying, impeding, or discriminating against the exercise of that right, allowing abortion to be a covered service under health insurance plans for Colorado state and local government employees and for enrollees in state and local governmental insurance programs?

Amendment 80 (CONSTITUTIONAL) (Vote Yes/For or No/Against)

Shall there be an amendment to the Colorado constitution establishing the right to school choice for children in kindergarten through 12th grade, and, in connection therewith, declaring that school choice includes neighborhood, charter, and private schools; home schooling; open enrollment options; and future innovations in education?

Proposition JJ (STATUTORY) (Vote Yes/For or No/Against)

Without raising taxes, may the state keep and spend all sports betting tax revenue above voter-approved limits to fund water conservation and protection projects instead of refunding revenue to casinos?

Proposition KK (STATUTORY)(Vote Yes/For or No/Against)

Shall state taxes be increased by $39,000,000 annually to fund mental health services, including for military veterans and at-risk youth, school safety and gun violence prevention, and support services for victims of domestic violence and other violent crimes by authorizing a tax on gun dealers, gun manufacturers, and ammunition vendors at the rate of 6.5% of the net taxable sales from the retail sale of any gun, gun precursor part, or ammunition, with the state keeping and spending all of the new tax revenue as a voter-approved revenue change?

Proposition 127 (STATUTORY)(Vote Yes/For or No/Against)

Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes concerning a prohibition on the hunting of mountain lions, lynx, and bobcats, and, in connection therewith, prohibiting the intentional killing, wounding, pursuing, entrapping, or discharging or releasing of a deadly weapon at a mountain lion, lynx, or bobcat; creating eight exceptions to this prohibition including for the protection of human life, property, and livestock; establishing a violation of this prohibition as a class 1 misdemeanor; and increasing fines and limiting wildlife license privileges for persons convicted of this crime?

Proposition 128 (STATUTORY)(Vote Yes/For or No/Against)

Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes concerning parole eligibility for an offender convicted of certain crimes, and, in connection therewith, requiring an offender who is convicted of second degree murder; first degree assault; class 2 felony kidnapping; sexual assault; first degree arson; first degree burglary; or aggravated robbery committed on or after January 1, 2025, to serve 85 percent of the sentence imposed before being eligible for parole, and requiring an offender convicted of any such crime committed on or after January 1, 2025, who was previously convicted of any two crimes of violence, not just those crimes enumerated in this measure, to serve the full sentence imposed before beginning to serve parole?

Proposition 129 (STATUTORY)(Vote Yes/For or No/Against)

Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes creating a new veterinary professional associate profession, and, in connection therewith, establishing qualifications including a master’s degree in veterinary clinical care or the equivalent as determined by the state board of veterinary medicine to be a veterinary professional associate; requiring registration with the state board; allowing a registered veterinary professional associate to practice veterinary medicine under the supervision of a licensed veterinarian; and making it a misdemeanor to practice as

Proposition 130 (STATUTORY)(Vote Yes/For or No/Against)

Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes concerning state funding for peace officer training and support, and, in connection therewith, directing the legislature to appropriate 350 million dollars to the peace officer training and support fund for municipal and county law enforcement agencies to hire and retain peace officers; allowing the fund to be used for pay, bonuses, initial and continuing education and training, and a death benefit for a peace officer, police, fire and first responder killed in the line of duty; and requiring the funding to supplement existing appropriations?

Proposition 131 (STATUTORY)(Vote Yes/For or No/Against)

Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes creating new election processes for certain federal and state offices, and, in connection therewith, creating a new all-candidate primary election for U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, CU board of regents, state board of education, and the Colorado state legislature; allowing voters to vote for any one candidate per office, regardless of the voter’s or candidate’s political party affiliation; providing that the four candidates for each office who receive the most votes advance to the general election; and in the general election, allowing voters to rank candidates for each office on their ballot, adopting a process for how the ranked votes are tallied, and determining the winner to be the candidate with the highest number of votes in the final tally?

County Ballot Measures

Otero County Ballot Question 1A (Vote Yes/For or No/Against)

Shall the term limits for the County Commissioners of Otero County, Colorado be limited to no more than three consecutive terms, this limitation being applicable for terms of office beginning on or after January 1, 2025?

Municipal Ballot Measures

Town of Fowler Ballot Issue 2A (Vote Yes/For or No/Against)
Shall the town of Fowler's taxes be increased annually by one percent commencing in 2025, with 50% of the generated revenue for the golf course, 25% for law enforcement, and the remaining 25% for roads and bridge, and by whatever additional amounts are raised annually thereafter from a one percent sales tax (except for certain prepared foods and foods for immediate consumption to which a one percent sales tax shall apply), and shall the town of Fowler be authorized to collect, retain, and spend all revenue generated by such tax in excess of the limitation provided in Section 20 of Article X of the Colorado Constitution as a voter-approved revenue change?

Elected Federal Offices

Presidential Electors (Vote for One Pair)

Kamala D. Harris / Tim Walz || Democratic

Donald J. Trump / JD Vance || Republican

Blake Huber / Andrea Denault || Approval Voting

Chase Russell Oliver / Mike ter Maat || Libertarian

Jill Stein / Rudolph Ware|| Green

Randall Terry / Stephen E Broden || American Constitution

Cornel West / Melina Abdullah || Unity

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. / Nicole Shanahan || Unaffiliated

Write-In:____________

Representative to the 119th United States Congress - District 3 (Vote for One)

Adam Frisch || Democratic

Jeff Hurd || Republican

James Wiley || Libertarian
(Signed declaration to limit service to no more than 3 terms)

Adam Withrow || Unity

State Offices

State Board of Education Member - Congressional District 3 (Vote for One)

Sherri M Wright || Republican

Ellen Angeles || Democratic

Regent of the University of Colorado - At Large (Vote for One)

Eric Rinard || Republican

Elliott Hood || Democratic

Thomas Reasoner || Approval Voting

T.J. Cole || Unity

Regent of the University of Colorado - Congressional District 3 (Vote for One)

Ray Scott || Republican

Robert B. Logan || Democratic

State Representative - District 47 (Vote for One)

Elizabeth Bulthuis || Democratic

Ty S. Winter || Republican

District Attorney - 16th Judicial District (Vote for One)

James R. Bullock || Republican

County Offices

Otero County Commissioner - District 1 (Vote for One)

Rob Oquist || Republican

El Paso County Commissioner - District 3 (Vote for One)

Jim Baldwin || Republican

Judicial Retention Questions

Colorado Supreme Court Justice (Vote Yes or No)

Shall Justice Maria E. Berkenkotter of the Colorado Supreme Court be retained in office?

Shall Justice Brian D. Boatright of the Colorado Supreme Court be retained in office?

Shall Justice Monica M. Márquez of the Colorado Supreme Court be retained in office?

Colorado Court of Appeals Judge (Vote YES or NO)

Shall Judge Stephanie Dunn of the Colorado Court of Appeals be retained in office?

Shall Judge Jerry N. Jones of the Colorado Court of Appeals be retained in office?

Shall Judge W. Eric Kuhn of the Colorado Court of Appeals be retained in office?

Shall Judge Gilbert M. Román of the Colorado Court of Appeals be retained in office?

Shall Judge Timothy J. Schutz of the Colorado Court of Appeals be retained in office?

District Court Judge - 16th Judicial District (Vote YES or NO)

Shall Judge Samuel Scott Vigil of the 16th Judicial District be retained in office?

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