Will Pueblo County’s election night woes continue in 2020?

PUEBLO, Colo. (KRDO) -- Whether it's a faulty machine or another reason for delays, election night results in Pueblo County have hit a few snags in recent years.

But with a closely watched Congressional race, along with the hotly contested Presidential race, Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder Gilbert Ortiz is putting a focus on making Nov. 3 smooth amid a "massive" turnout so far.

So far -- according to Ortiz -- around 40,000 ballots have been returned in Pueblo County, that's 200% more votes than around this time in 2016 during the last Presidential election.

"We encourage Puebloans to get the ballots in quickly so we can get more counted before election night," said Ortiz. "For now our plan is to keep building up with judges. So that we can handle the bigger input of ballots. So that we can have our best tally at 7 pm on election night."

By the time the polls close on November 3rd, Ortiz believes local races in Pueblo County will have decisive outcomes. However, with the the state wide and federal races, the Pueblo County Clerk isn't so certain.

"They are going to take some time," said Ortiz. "We expect to end the night with a lot of uncounted ballots on election night."