Westminster voters reject measure to end at-large City Council elections

Westminster voters in Tuesday’s election chose to continue selecting their elected leaders in the way they always have: by a citywide vote rather than dividing the city up into three geographic wards for more targeted votes.

Ballot Question 3D, which would have established three wards in the city represented by two council members each, was rejected 54.3% to 45.7%. If it had passed, residents living in those wards would get to vote only on candidates running in their district. The mayor would have continued to be selected at-large.

The northwest Denver suburb, which straddles Jefferson and Adams counties, has been exploring for several years the idea of switching to a ward system, or to a combined system of at-large and ward representation.

Proponents of the measure said a ward system would allow for more responsive local government by forcing council members to train their focus on a smaller portion of the city of 115,000.

As a result of Tuesday’s vote, Westminster and Boulder are the only two cities in metro Denver that still use an all at-large election system.

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