Pueblo County set to release final vote counts Thursday

PUEBLO COUNTY, Colo (KRDO) -- Thursday, Pueblo County released its final vote counts.

Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder Gilbert "Bo" Ortiz said the vote totals in the release are final, but not official and certified.

Still, it gave a better indication of where the race in the Third Congressional District seat stands in Pueblo County.

Ortiz told KRDO his office cured more ballots in this election than ever before. Ballots that need signature verification require voters to come in and "cure" those ballots. According to Ortiz, Pueblo County had a 65% cure rate this election.

Out of the 851 ballots flagged in Pueblo, 553 were cured.

According to Ortiz, the process always takes this long. It's only this time around that there's a magnifying glass on this particular race with a razor-thin margin.

Below is a chart indicating the current status of the race between Republican incumbent Lauren Boebert and Democratic Challenger Adam Frisch.

All additional ballots were collected Wednesday night by 11:59 p.m.

The decision of whether an automatic recount will take place won't be made until the election is certified by Ortiz and the Secretary of State's Office. Ortiz believes that certification will happen.

To trigger an automatic recount, the final results need to be separated by less than half a percent. The Secretary of State's Office would be responsible for organizing the recount.

KRDO has reached out to the Secretary of State's Office. They say they can't provide an estimate for how much an automatic or permissive recount would cost until it's either enacted or requested.