Front Range Passenger Rail District leaders unanimously voted to name a new designated election official to oversee Ballot Issue 7A during a special meeting Monday night, almost two weeks after the district announced that 800,000 Colorado voters would receive ballots that erroneously include a question about the sales tax increase.
Former Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Pam Anderson will take the reins as the district’s designated election official effective immediately, which includes communicating with county clerks and the Colorado Secretary of State’s office and making sure the district follows state election law.
District leaders hired her as a consultant last week to help navigate the problems with Issue 7A, which was printed on hundreds of thousands of ballots in Adams, Arapahoe, Douglas and Weld counties despite those voters not being eligible to vote on the measure.
State and county officials have said the Front Range Passenger Rail District failed to tell county clerks about the district’s updated boundaries after the legislature shrunk the district’s footprint through a 2026 law.
Anderson was elected as the Jefferson County clerk in 2006 and re-elected in 2010, according to a biography she shared with the rail district. She was the Republican nominee for Colorado Secretary of State in 2022 and previously served as the executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association and was the elected city clerk in Wheat Ridge.
“Pam is more than qualified to fulfill these duties and responsibilities, and I think voters can rest assured that the election will be managed in a way that continues to highlight the well-respected electoral system in Colorado,” district General Manager Sal Pace told The Denver Post on Monday night.
The district’s previous designated election official and attorney, Brent E. Butzin, submitted his resignation on Oct. 12, Pace said.
Butzin declined to comment for this story.
Despite the scale of the error, Colorado election officials have said county clerks will be able to accurately count votes for Issue 7A, a .333% sales tax increase in Front Range communities to fund an expansion of the Front Range Passenger Rail from Denver to Pueblo.
Anderson reaffirmed that statement while speaking to the district’s board on Monday night.
“It’s certainly not ideal, but it is not unprecedented,” Anderson said. “It is one of the more common errors in elections, for a ballot to be designed and sent to voters that ultimately they may or may not be eligible to vote for.”
Usually, that’s because a candidate or ballot issue is withdrawn, she added. County clerks are able to block the tabulated results for ineligible voters, and the process includes a public audit and canvas, she said.
“I have a great deal of confidence they’re going to successfully implement the solutions that we have had in the toolbox for quite some time for elections,” Anderson said.
The Front Range Passenger Rail District is already planning to launch a daily passenger train, the Colorado Connector, or CoCo, between Denver’s Union Station and Fort Collins starting in 2029. The starter service is set to run three daily trips along the northern Front Range, with stops in Westminster, Broomfield, Louisville, Boulder, Longmont and Loveland.
If passed, Issue 7A would generate $295 million a year to build, maintain and run the line, including adding stops in Littleton, Sterling Ranch in Douglas County, Colorado Springs and Pueblo. District officials have said they will start with three daily trips south and add a fourth daily trip to the northern route, along with special event stops near the new Denver Broncos and Summit FC stadiums.
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