Colorado Ballot Misprint Sends Rail Tax Measure to Ineligible Voters
A printing error placed a Colorado Connector passenger rail sales-tax question on ballots sent to roughly 800,000 voters in four counties who do not live in the district. Former Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams said he knew of no similar mistake of that scale. State officials said only eligible votes will be counted for Issue 7A and that the voting system can identify which ballots should be included.
Wayne Williams, who previously served as Colorado’s secretary of state, said he was not aware of another ballot mistake on this scale. The affected item is Issue 7A, a sales-tax proposal tied to the Colorado Connector passenger rail expansion.
Roughly 800,000 voters across four counties received ballots that wrongly listed the measure, even though they are outside the district and cannot vote on it. State officials said only valid votes will count for Issue 7A and that the voting system can identify which ballots to include.
The misprint could leave hundreds of thousands of voters outside the district uncertain about why they received a question they cannot decide. It may add work for election staff who must separate valid 7A votes from ineligible ones. If handled clearly, the episode might reinforce confidence in ballot verification; if not, it could fuel broader doubts about election administration.