Secretary Of State: Voters Want Transportation Issues Addressed
DENVER (CBS4)- The turnout for Tuesday's election in Colorado was far less than a presidential election year, but there were some important races decided by voters.
Secretary of State Wayne Williams appeared on CBS4 This Morning where he discussed the voter turnout.
"As of 5:45 this morning, which is pretty current, 1,181,000 Coloradans turned in ballots," said Williams. "That certainly is down from our presidential election when 2.9 million Coloradans voted."
Voters approved Denver's bond packages, 2A-2G, the most expensive in the history of the city with $431 million for transportation projects, and a total of more than $900 million.
"I was pleasantly surprised given the challenges the Legislature had with transportation issues, is the overwhelming support for transportation measures, both in Denver where the transportation bond issue led the pack, and then in the Pikes Peak area where two I-25 measures also won by about two-to-one margins," said Williams. "So the voters said, 'We want transportation issues addressed.'"
Another surprise was the passing of the so-called "Green Roofs" initiative, a plan to fight poor air quality and urban heat island effect - that's when the city heats up because of excessive amounts of concrete. The initiative requires Denver buildings larger than 25,000 square feet to have rooftop gardens, and/or solar panels.
"One of the things about Colorado law is that we allow the people to make important decisions. And there is a method to get things onto the ballot, you can do that on statewide issues, you can do that on local issues and ultimately the people get to make those decisions," said Williams.
Next year Coloradans will head to the polls to elect a new governor.
"We're going to have a primary election in June because unaffiliated voters will be able to vote for the first time," said Williams.