Voter guide: what Montezuma County votes on November 3

Montezuma County’s November 3 general election is an all-mail-ballot election. Ballots were mailed to every active, eligible registered voter beginning Monday, October 5, and the county Clerk and Recorder’s office told commissioners on October 6 that they had all gone out.

Clerk and Recorder Kim Percell told county commissioners on September 29 that the state’s ballot information booklets are already going out, and that the county’s own information booklet — covering the county lodging tax question and the Cortez and Mancos tax questions — would be mailed Friday, October 2.

Graphic: Cortez Current. Sources: Montezuma County Clerk and Recorder; Colorado Secretary of State

Completed ballots must be received by the Clerk and Recorder by 7 p.m. on Tuesday, November 3. Postmarks don’t count, so if it’s late in October, use a drop box rather than the mail.

Local questions on the ballot

Which questions you see depends on where you live. The county has posted four sample ballot styles, and its voting districts map shows which one is yours.

County Ballot Question 1A: term limits. Asks whether the county Assessor, Clerk and Recorder, Surveyor and Treasurer may serve an unlimited number of consecutive terms. It appears on all four sample ballots.

County Lodging Tax Question 1B. Would raise the county lodging tax from 2% to 5% starting January 1, 2027, excluding the City of Cortez, which has its own lodging tax. The ballot estimates the increase at about $405,000 in 2027. The money would go to tourism promotion and marketing, outdoor recreation and visitor-related infrastructure, destination development, tourism resiliency and emergency recovery, and administering the tax. The sample ballots show 1B on ballots for voters outside the City of Cortez.

City of Cortez Ballot Question 2A: city lodgers’ tax. Would raise the city’s lodgers’ tax from 2% to 6% starting January 1, 2027. The county’s certified notice of election caps the increase at $900,000 in tax collection year 2027. The money would go to tourism marketing, economic development and redevelopment within the city (including walkability, landscaping and other improvements), and arts and cultural events, programs and facilities. The question would let the council adjust the rate as long as it doesn’t exceed 6%. It appears on Cortez city ballots.

Town of Mancos Ballot Question 2B: sales tax for streets and broadband. Would add a town-wide sales tax, bringing the town’s total sales tax to 4.4%, to raise an estimated $325,000 in 2027. The money would be used only for street improvements and broadband capital improvements, equipment, and their operation and maintenance. It appears on Mancos town ballots.

Not on the ballot: the Cortez sales tax holiday. Separately from these questions, the city’s 3.85% sales tax comes off purchases in Cortez from October 18 through December 31, under a step the city council already approved to return over-collected recreation sales tax. It is not a ballot measure, nothing on your ballot changes it, and it is a different tax from the lodgers’ tax in Question 2A. See our story on the sales tax holiday.

County offices

These are the county races as they appear on the county’s sample ballots:

• County Commissioner, District 1: Rebecca Busic (Democrat), Rodney Cox (Republican)
• Clerk and Recorder: Jerri Frizzell (Republican)
• Treasurer: Ellen Black (Republican)
• Assessor: Leslie Kennedy-Bugg (Unaffiliated)
• Sheriff: Tyson Cox (Republican)
• Surveyor: Rita Caffey (Unaffiliated)
• Coroner: George Deavers (Republican)

State and federal races

Ballots also include U.S. Senate, U.S. House (Congressional District 3), Governor and Lieutenant Governor, Secretary of State, State Treasurer, Attorney General, State Board of Education (Congressional District 3), a state House seat, retention questions for judges, and a long list of statewide amendments and propositions.

Most of the county is in State House District 59, where the candidates are Katie Stewart (Democrat) and Naomi Riess (Republican). Some voters are in District 58; check your sample ballot.

The state’s nonpartisan ballot information booklet, the “Blue Book,” explains each statewide measure, with arguments for and against. The 2026 edition is mailed to voters’ households before the election and posted on the Colorado General Assembly’s Blue Book page.

Registering and updating your registration

You can register, check your registration or update your address at GoVoteColorado.gov. To get a ballot in the mail, the Colorado Secretary of State says you need to register or update by the eighth day before Election Day, which is Monday, October 26. After that, you can still register and vote in person at a Voter Service and Polling Center through 7 p.m. on Election Day.

Drop boxes (open 24 hours)

Open October 5 through 7 p.m. November 3:

• Montezuma County Clerk and Recorder’s Office, 140 W. Main St., Suite 1, Cortez

Open October 12 through 7 p.m. November 3:

• Cortez City Hall, 123 Roger Smith Ave., Cortez
• Dolores Town Hall, 601 Central Ave., Dolores
• Mancos Town Hall, 117 N. Main St., Mancos
• Lewis Post Office, 18794 Highway 491, Lewis
• Ute Mountain Ute Tribal Headquarters, 125 Mike Wash Road, Towaoc

Voting in person

Voter Service and Polling Centers can register you, update your registration, give you a replacement ballot, and let you vote in person on accessible equipment.

Montezuma County Annex 1, 107 N. Chestnut St., Cortez

• Monday through Friday, October 19 through October 29: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Saturday, October 31: 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
• Election Day, November 3: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

The weekday question is now behind us: the county’s pages gave three different readings of how long the Cortez center stayed open on weekdays — the “Important Dates” list on the 2026 General Election Information page said “Monday, October 19, 2026 - November 03, 2026 … from 8am-5pm,” the “Polling Locations” block lower down the same page said “Oct 19 - Oct 29 Mon- Friday,” and the elections office page said “Oct 19 - Oct 30 Mon- Friday.” All three agree on the Saturday hours and on Election Day: every polling center is open 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on November 3. If anything about a location is unclear, call the Elections Office at 970-565-3728.

Ute Mountain Ute Community Center, 495 Sunset Blvd., Towaoc

• Monday, November 2: 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.
• Election Day, November 3: 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Election Day only (November 3, 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.)

• Dolores Public Library, 1002 Railroad Ave., Dolores
• Mancos Public Library, 211 W. First St., Mancos

The county notes that its Motor Vehicle office in Cortez will be closed on Election Day.

The county says nothing has moved. On the morning of Monday, November 2, Montezuma County posted a notice on its Facebook page saying “All in-person voting locations and ballot drop boxes remain unchanged, including locations in Mancos,” and asking voters to disregard earlier information about a possible change. It did not say what that earlier information was. Both of the county’s election pages list the Mancos drop box and the Mancos Public Library polling center as they are above. Our story on the notice is here.

The equipment test

The county held its public Logic and Accuracy test of the voting equipment on Thursday, October 1, at 9 a.m. at the Clerk and Recorder’s office. The test was open to the public.

Questions

Montezuma County Clerk and Recorder Kim Percell, 140 W. Main St., Suite 1, Cortez; 970-565-3728. Office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.

Dates, hours and locations come from the county’s 2026 General Election Information page and sample ballots. We’ll update this guide if they change.

Correction, October 7, 2026: an earlier version of this guide said Question 2A would raise up to $200,000 in 2027. The city’s estimate of the maximum increase, as printed in the county’s notice of election to increase taxes, is $900,000.