Colorado presidential primary raises questions after candidates drop out

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- Some voters cast a ballot in the Colorado presidential primary before their candidate dropped out of the race. That's why the El Paso County Clerk and Recorder is now looking into "ranked-choice voting".

"This is the first time Colorado in 20 years has had a presidential primary and we're seeing [...] some of the effects for voters," said Chuck Broerman, the county Clerk and Recorder.

It works like this: you would rank your candidate of choice from first to last. Then if the top candidate doesn't get at least 50% of the vote, the candidate who received the fewest votes is eliminated. Whoever voted for that last place candidate would then have their second-place vote count toward the remaining candidates.

If that still doesn't get the top candidate to 50%, the next last place candidate would be eliminated, and whoever voted for that candidate will then have their next choice counted instead. This cycle continues until a candidate receives 50%.

But Broerman doesn't full support it.

"I don't know that this would solve the situation because what we have here is a candidate that has actually withdrawn. So in rank-choice voting it's about candidates on the ballot and stating a preference on which candidates you prefer and the order," he said.

The Secretary of State's Office says they've already begun looking into alternative ways of voting, with a meeting already in the works for ranked-choice voting.

But before it becomes a reality in El Paso County, Broerman says a lot would have to happen.

"Our software doesn't support that in our election. The software in Colorado would have to be an enhancement or a code would have to be written and that would cost El Paso County $350,000," he said.