T'dad Talk

T'dad Talk - September 17, 2020

September 17, 2020 Cameron Wayne
T'dad Talk
T'dad Talk - September 17, 2020
Show Notes Transcript

Today in the news, ballot tracking is now available across all of Colorado and Governor Jared Polis says he’ll be pushing for a 4 a.m. last call for clubs and bars following the pandemic. In the world, another Caribbean British Colony moves to remove the queen of England as head of state in an effort to become a republic, so stay tuned.

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Starting the day off a little hazy again but mostly sunny with highs around 80 degrees. Tonight, we’ll drop down to around 50 degrees. 

For Thursday, mostly clear skies with highs in the lower 80s. 

Now, here’s the news.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced Monday in a press release that voters in all 64 counties will be able to track the status of their individual mail ballots for the 2020 General Election through BallotTrax, a ballot tracking system. Voters will be able to receive notifications by phone, email, or text about the status of their mail ballots, from the time their County Clerk and Recorder mails the outgoing ballot packet, to when their completed ballot is received and accepted for counting.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office is offering the BallotTrax ballot tracking and messaging system to all counties with Las Animas opting in earlier this year. Chief Deputy Clerk Joseph Mestas said it has come with high praise from users locally.

Las Animas voters already signed up with the service won’t notice any changes to the content, format, or timing of the ballot status messages they receive explained Griswold’s press release. The effect of the Secretary of State’s initiative makes the BallotTrax system available to voters in the other 51 counties that never before had access to ballot tracking.

Beginning September 14, voters in counties that are adding ballot tracking will receive a notification that they have been enrolled in the service if their registration record contains an email address. Those who don’t receive an auto-enrollment notification can sign up themselves at lasanimasvotes.com. 

Voters can opt out of BallotTrax at any time and those in counties with preexisting ballot tracking capabilities, will not need to re-enroll and will be able to continue to have their ballots tracked without interruption. 

As a reminder, Mestas said the tracking system was different from registration or updates on elections. For that information, visit www.GoVoteColorado.gov.

In July, Governor Jared Polis issued a mandate requiring last call for alcohol to be at 10 p.m. at bars and restaurants in Colorado for 30 days, in an effort to slow the spread of of COVID-19 among people in their 20s. In August, he amended that order to allow bars and restaurants to serve alcohol until 11 p.m. That order will expire on Sept. 21, unless it is extended.

At a news conference on Tuesday, he stated that coming out of the pandemic, there would be less red tape and fewer restrictions. Among them, he is pushing for legislation allowing the 2 a.m. closing time requirement for bars serving alcohol to be pushed back to 4 a.m., at local discretion.

Happening in the world, monarchy continues to crumble as Barbados announced recently their intention to remove Queen Elizabeth as their head of state in favor of becoming a republic.

It aims to complete the process in time for their 55th anniversary of independence from Britain.

Barbados would not be the first former British colony in the Caribbean to become a republic. Guyana took that step in 1970, less than four years after gaining independence from Britain. Trinidad and Tobago followed suit in 1976 and Dominica in 1978.

And with that, monarchy continues to be dismantled to this day. Hmm. Good for you Barbados.

Additionally, if you know of any upcoming events we should be aware of, please feel free to reach out to us here at the Chronicle News so we can make sure to spread the word!

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This is Cameron Wayne, have a great day!