Douglas County voters are hitting the polls to decide whether to grant its county “home rule” status, something rarely seen in Colorado.

With a home rule charter, commissioners in the Republican stronghold would seek more local control regarding state policies they oppose.

Voters will face one of two questions: “Shall the voters of Douglas County, State of Colorado, elect a County Home Rule Charter Commission to study the structure and organization of Douglas County Government?”

If ‘yes,’ voters will then be asked to choose the 21-member charter commission. Candidates are split among an at-large district and the three existing commissioner districts.

If the measure passes, the committee would write a charter for voters to approve again in the November election.

Polls close in Douglas County at 7 p.m., with results expected to start coming in moments after, according to officials.

Unofficial election results are posted on DouglasVotes.com and will be updated at least three times: once after 7 p.m., another update around 9 p.m., and one more time before midnight, according to a county spokesperson.

As of Tuesday morning, 68,826 Douglas County voters have submitted ballots, whether in-person or by mail. Of the total, roughly 24% are registered Democrats, 30% are Republican, and 45% are unaffiliated voters, according to the Douglas County voter website.

There are 21 ballot drop-off locations across the county and are all under surveillance, according to the county’s website.

Three polling locations are in three parts of the county and all close at 7 p.m.:

• Castle Rock: Douglas County Human Services, 4400 Castleton Court.
• Highlands Ranch: Douglas County Parks and Trails Division, 9651 S. Quebec St.
• Parker: Parker Water and Sanitation, 13939 Ancestry Dr.

On March 25, Douglas County Commissioners Abe Laydon, George Teal and Kevin Van Winkle held a five-minute special meeting inside council chambers and approved a resolution to spend $500,000 on Tuesday’s special election.

While home rule municipalities are common in the state, only two of the 64 Colorado counties have home rule status and are separate from the typical “statutory” counties. Pitkin and Weld County residents established their charters in the 1970s. Denver and Broomfield are also counties but are identified as home rule municipalities.

Under Colorado law for counties, residents may establish their own government structure, including the number of commissioners, county employees, duties and compensation. Still, the commissioners and staff must operate the county in accordance with a more structured home rule charter, which limits what the county can do compared to a municipality.

For example, counties with a home rule charter don’t have unlimited ordinance-making powers like home rule cities.

Between April 21 and May 2, Douglas County, using Hill Research Consultants, surveyed residents on various issues impacting the community. One question was whether voters would support a county home rule charter.

Out of 3,617 people polled, 54% opposed home rule, while 44% said they’d support it. The majority of ‘no’ responses came from northwest Douglas County and Highlands Ranch residents, where 64% of those polled were against becoming a home rule county.

Early poll results on Tuesday show that the majority of voters are from Highlands Ranch. Castle Rock and Parker also have strong turnouts.