Where Things Stand
- Democrat Hillary Clinton wins Colorado's nine Electoral College votes.
- So far, all of Colorado's members of Congress are holding onto their seats.
- More: CPR's live Colorado results | NPR live national blog
The Latest
11:45 p.m. -- We're calling a night on the live blog everyone: Thanks for coming along on the ride. Switch over to our full results page tonight and tomorrow for more results.
10:15 p.m. -- Colorado approves hike in state minimum wage: Amendment 70 calls for raising Colorado's minimum wage for most workers from its current level of $8.31 an hour to $12 an hour by 2020. Wages for tipped employees would increase from $5.29 per hour now to $8.98 per hour in 2020.
Colorado's minimum wage already adjusts annually based on the Denver-Boulder-Greeley Consumer Price Index, and those adjustments would continue from 2021 onward. However, Amendment 70 would prevent the minimum wage from decreasing during times of deflation, something which occurred in 2010, when the wage declined four cents.
Under current Colorado state law, local governments are not allowed to set a minimum wage different from the state's, and that prohibition would continue under Amendment 70. Full data on our live results page. -- Hart Van Denburg
9:40 p.m. -- Voters pass medical aid in dying: Proposition 106 calls for terminally ill patients to be allowed to take their own lives with medication prescribed by a physician. Colorado will become the sixth state where this is legal, joining Oregon, Washington, California, Montana and Vermont.
The measure is modeled after Oregon’s first-in-the-nation law and has several key components. You must be a resident of Colorado, an adult 18 or older, and determined by two doctors to be “mentally capable” of making healthcare decisions. You must be making the choice voluntarily and must self-administer the doctor-prescribed drug, generally a sleeping medication called secobarbital.
Proponents argue people should have the choice to end their lives as they choose, especially if they’re facing an agonizing, painful death. Opponents believe it’s morally wrong. They say doctors can make mistakes and that the measure won’t stop doctor shopping and won’t require a doctor to be present when a person dies. They also worry the measure would create a slippery slope potentially leading to euthanasia. Full data on our live results page. -- Hart Van Denburg
9:40: AP calls CD2 for Polis: Democrat Jared Polis was first elected in 2008. He was challenged by Republican Nicholas Morse and Libertarian Richard Longstreth in a safely democratic seat. The second district covers the central and north Front Range suburbs, as well as Fort Collins, Boulder, Vail, Idaho Springs and Grand Lake.
Polis favors a balanced budget amendment to the U.S. Constitution, views climate change as a national security threat to the country, and wants the federal government to stop subsidizing fossil fuel research. He also also opposes turning public lands over to state control. Full data on our live results page. -- Hart Van Denburg
9:35 p.m. -- AP: Buck wins another term in CD4: Libertarian Bruce Griffith and Democrat Bob Seay challenged Republican Ken Buck, who represents a conservative district that covers a huge swath of the Eastern Plains. He has called human-caused climate change a “hoax,” favors lowering the corporate tax rate, opposes “attempts to restrict the Second Amendment,” and he wants the Affordable Care Act repealed. Full data on our live results page. -- Hart Van Denburg
9:25 p.m. -- AP calls CD6 for Mike Coffman: Coffman first elected in 2008, used to represent a fairly safe Republican district and he was a standard Republican. He worked to balance the budget and help veterans, and took a hard line on illegal immigration. But in 2011 redistricting radically redrew the lines and changed the way he did his job.
The district now wraps around the east side of the Denver metro area, covering Aurora and the affluent southeastern suburbs. Its economic and racial diversity is also reflected in its politics, split almost evenly between Democrats, Republicans, and unaffiliated voters, making it among the most competitive in the nation.
"What makes me a better Congressman, because of this district -- what makes me a better person -- is that it has forced me to reach out," Coffman told CPR News recently.
Carroll knew the district well, having represented a big chunk of it as a state senator for eight years. She touts accomplishments that range from expanding background checks on gun sales to stronger protections for homeowners, and part of her pitch in this election was that she’d work across the aisle to get Congress to adopt some of the rules of Colorado’s legislature.
"I like bringing more Colorado to D.C.," Carroll said. "The fact that our bills get a hearing, at least they get a fair debate, at least they get a vote."
Both Coffman and Carroll called for Trump to step aside. Full data on our live results page. -- Hart Van Denburg
9:15 p.m. -- AP reports Colorado voters reject ColoradoCare: Amendment 69 sought to create a first-in-the-nation statewide tax-funded universal health plan called ColoradoCare. Had it passed, every resident would get health care insurance coverage that would take the place of most private insurance. Consumers would have made co-payments, but would no longer have premiums and deductibles.
To pay for the plan, there would have been a new 10 percent payroll tax, with your employer paying two thirds of that, with you paying the remaining third. The self-employed would have also paid 10 percent. Those taxes would haved worked out to $25 billion in revenue for 2019, the program’s first year.
ColoradoCare would have also administered the state’s Medicaid program, so its final budget was estimated to have been $36 billion -- bigger than that of the state government. Full data on our live results page. -- Hart Van Denburg
9:05 p.m. -- Clinton wins Colorado: The AP says the Democratic presidential nominee is now slated to receive Colorado's nine electoral votes.
Colorado has been a battleground state for several presidential elections. But analysts figured it favored Clinton from the outset because it is more affluent and better educated than the country as a whole. The Clinton campaign signaled its confidence when it stopped advertising on Colorado television in July.
But Trump continued to advertise in the state and visited multiple times. The Clinton campaign returned to Colorado airwaves only last week as the presidential contest tightened. Full data on our live results page. -- Associated Press
8:50 p.m. -- AP: Bennet will return to Senate: Sen. Michael Bennet’s nearest challenger, Republican Darryl Glenn, fired up the crowd at the GOP convention earlier this year when he declared himself “an unapologetic Christian, constitutional conservative, pro-life, Second-Amendment-loving American.” He was a critic of the Affordable Care Act, the U.S.-Iran nuclear deal and the Trans Pacific Partnership
But the El Paso County commissioner, an attorney and a former Air Force lieutenant, also raised eyebrows when he distanced himself from GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump after video surfaced of Trump making coarse and lewd comments about women. In the end, Glenn said he would vote for Trump, while not explicitly endorsing him.
Bennet said during the campaign he believes the federal government should be spending more on education and infrastructure improvements. But at the same time, “Congress needs to take action to reduce our growing deficit, and we should start by focusing on inefficiencies in our system,” as well, he recently told CPR News.
As part of that effort he touted legislative work that aims to help seniors get better access to Medicare and access to preventative care, but also coordinate care between doctors and health care facilities. “Fifteen percent of Medicare recipients account for $300 billion in spending. We could cut billions off that number without affecting benefits,” he said.
Also on Bennet’s radar: climate change, and especially how it affects Colorado. “With the risk of more and more devastating wildfires, shortened ski seasons, and the impact on our $40 million agriculture industry, the consequences of climate change pose a serious problem for Colorado’s economy,” he said. Full data on our live results page. -- Hart Van Denburg
8:35 p.m. -- AP calls CD1 for DeGette: Dianna DeGette has served Denver’s 1st Congressional District, a liberal bastion, since first being elected to Congress in 1997 when she took over the seat from Pat Schroeder. She favors raising the minimum wage, comprehensive immigration reform, and adding land to the National Wilderness Preservation System.
Among her committee assignments: the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, and Subcommittee on Environment and the Economy. Earlier this year in the runup to the Paris accords, DeGette said addressing climate change is the "issue of our time. We need to take immediate, international action to invest in renewable energy production and reverse the damage caused so far. Full data on our live results page.-- Hart Van Denburg
8:25 p.m. -- AP calls CD5 for Lamborn: Republican U.S. Rep. Doug Lamborn, first elected in 2006, was being challenged by Libertarian Mike McRedmond and Democrat Misty Plowright. CD5 Runs across the the center of the state, from El Paso County west to Salida, Buena Vista and South Park. Full data on our live results page.
8:20 p.m. -- Basket of deplorables: CPR's Michael Sakas checks in from the Republican viewing party.
This is Lisa Neifert from Elizabeth, CO. She brought her "basket of deplorables"-- bald eagles, a bible & the constitution #copolitics pic.twitter.com/iWKkBGKEnp
8:04 p.m. -- SCFD results starting to come in: Voters first passed SCFD in 1988. It’s a cultural fund that comes from a 0.1 percent sales and use tax in seven counties: Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Broomfield, Denver, Douglas and Jefferson. Voters approved extensions in 1994 and 2004. It’s up for extension again with Ballot Issue 4B. For all the major Colorado congressional races and ballot questions, check out our real-time results page.-- Hart Van Denburg
7:27 p.m. -- Early returns are in: Here's a snapshot. For all the major Colorado congressional races and ballot questions, check out our real-time results page.
Clinton takes narrow lead over Trump in early returns. Except more swings as votes are counted. https://t.co/S81UHrgd1A #copolitics pic.twitter.com/apmrakLCld
7:05 p.m. -- The partiers are drifting in: Our Ben Markus us at the Colorado Democrats' viewing party in Denver, where he says "Lot's of smiles and optimism ... so far."
Meanwhile, Megan Verlee checked in with this early image from the Republican Party gathering at the DoubleTree in suburban Greenwood Village:
-- Hart Van Denburg
6:57 p.m. -- UPDATE: Polls close at 7 p.m: The Colorado Democratic Party asked a Denver District Court judge to keep polls in the state open for another 2 hours after a technical issue caused delays in voting earlier today. But the judge ruled the polls would close at 7 p.m. as scheduled.
The Secretary of State's office was opposed to the proposed extension.
"This outage didn't stop anyone from voting," spokeswoman Lynn Bartels tweeted. "We have no reports of long lines and anyone in line at 7 can still vote."
And a general reminder: People who haven’t yet cast their ballots will be allowed to vote as long as they’re in line by 7 p.m. -- Nathaniel Minor
6:35 p.m. -- 5 hour delay in Pueblo? Update: Via the Pueblo Chieftain:
Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder Gilbert Ortiz told The Pueblo Chieftain that there will not be a five-hour delay in counting ballots, as some news outlets are reporting. He clarified that the problems that have occurred since this morning have set his office back five hours.
Original post continues: The Denver Post reports Pueblo County officials couldn’t count votes for five hours on Tuesday because of problems with a computer database, and the subsequent time needed to repair the problem. County Clerk Gilbert “Bo” Ortiz told the Post he thought election workers would be caught up with the count in the traditionally Democratic stronghold by about 11 p.m. -- Hart Van Denburg
6:31 p.m. -- Gone to the dogs:
5:50 p.m. -- Born this way: A Colorado woman who went into labor but decided to vote before heading to the hospital is proving how important some consider this election. Sosha Adelstein and Max Brandel were expecting their first child to be born on Election Day, but Adelstein went into labor early Friday. Soon after, the couple rushed to a station in Boulder County to drop off their ballots. Brandel says it's important to bring their girl into a world they are proud of, and he hopes people go out and vote. -- The Associated Press
4:48 p.m.
4:15 p.m. -- Statewide voter registration system update: The Secretary of State's office says its voter registration system went down briefly at about 3 p.m. That resulted in some brief delays in ballot verification. But SoS communications director Lynn Bartels tweeted that the system is now back online.
MEDIA: Voter registration system went down 29 minutes, 2:47 p.m. to 3:16 p.m. It is back up now. We are investigating. #copolitics
MEDIA: During the 29-minute outage, Coloradans were still able to vote. #copolitics
Some voters had to cast provisional ballots. Secretary of State Wayne Williams says polls will close at 7 p.m. as scheduled, despite the technical issues. Only a court has the authority to keep polls open longer, Bartels said. Any voters in line by 7 p.m. will be allowed to vote.
-- Nathaniel Minor
3:25 p.m. -- Ballot status issues: Some Colorado voters checking the status of their ballots online are finding that they've been listed as rejected but officials say they'll have time to make sure they get counted.
Ballots can be listed as rejected because a voter didn't sign the envelope when returning their mail ballot or the signature looks different than the one on file in registration records. Also, first time Colorado voters are required to provide a copy of some identification with their ballot, and, if that's missing from the envelope, those ballots will be listed as rejected too.
The spokeswoman for the secretary of state's office, Lynn Bartels, says voters can go to their clerk's office to prove the validity of their ballot on Election Day. But they also have up until eight days after to settle things which is one of the reasons the results posted Tuesday will be listed as "unofficial" results, subject to some changes. -- The Associated Press
3:10 p.m. -- Vote by bike:
2:30 p.m. -- Quieter in Garfield County: Many urban voting centers report a flood of people dropping off ballots or voting in person today, but things are quieter in Garfield County on the Western Slope. The county's Clerk and Recorder Jean Alberico says she’s expecting the number of people who vote in person will be cut by two-thirds.
“Might even be less," she says. "You know, in 2014 which was a big general election, we only had a few hundred people actually vote in person.” -- Grace Hood
2:20 p.m. -- Looking for unity in Arvada: Gary Keys lives in Arvada. He dropped off his ballot and says he thinks this election is important because the country has lost a sense of unity. His reaction to the presidential campaign? "Anxiety!"
"I went to church this morning to pray to help me deal with the results. I'm that worried about the direction of the country. For my kids. I mean, for our children." -- Michael Sakas
2 p.m. -- Calm before the storm in Denver:
12:45 p.m. -- Uncomfortable in Arvada: Andrea Walls lives in Arvada. She says she's mostly concerned with local issues this Election Day, and when it comes to presidential candidates, she doesn't feel good about either major party candidate.
"The presidential election this year was really tough for me. I feel very uncomfortable and unsatisfied with my selection. But you almost felt forced to do it," she said, adding a friend encouraged her to make a final decision, and they dropped off their ballots together. -- Michael Sakas
12:20 p.m. -- Boulder glitches: This morning in Boulder County, server problems caused ballot printing delays and longer lines. Mircalla Wozniak says the county added a second server to manage the issue. Population growth over the last four years has created more traffic.
“As of last night, we’ve had over 156,000 people already cast their ballot either by mail or in person. And in 2012 just for comparison we only had a total of 180,000 vote. So we’ll well exceed that," Wozniak says. -- Grace Hood
12:15 p.m. -- Voting in Denver:
12:10 p.m. -- Feeling better in Wheatridge: Colorado has mail-in voting, but some voters are swarming ballot drop off locations and polling stations are the Denver metro. Justin Brubakken, who lives in Wheatridge, believes voting this time around is more important than ever.
"I've been waiting. I would have waited in line all day just to get it in there. And just to make myself feel better," he said. "So at the end of the day, whoever is president, at least I know I got my voice heard. Not only on presidential issues but some issues around here." -- Michael Sakas
