Flooding in parts of the Southwest has disrupted Election Day plans. Floodwaters were receding in some parts on Monday, but the risk remained as residents dealt with evacuations, washed-out roads and damaged bridges. Hundreds of people have been evacuated, at least one person has died in floodwaters and police suspect a second death was weather-related.
Officials warned recovery could take weeks. Colorado officials moved a voter center and a ballot drop box in Archuleta County, while Utah authorized electronic ballot returns for some residents of San Juan County who cannot reasonably reach a polling place or drop box. Arizona warned that flooded roads could affect access to voting locations.
New Mexico officials said polling places would open as planned. The National Weather Service said isolated downpours remained possible across the Four Corners region, where Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico and Utah meet. Former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief scientist Ryan Maue estimated that more than 20 trillion gallons of rain fell across the Four Corners states and Nevada over two weeks.
Newsweek has requested comment from election officials in Arizona, Colorado, Utah and New Mexico via email outside office hours. In Pagosa Springs, flooding from the San Juan River inundated downtown streets. The river reached 16.81 feet on Sunday, about a foot below the level that nearly destroyed the town in 1911, before receding Monday.
A house was swept from its foundation and struck a pedestrian bridge, while floodwaters damaged a road bridge west of town. The voter center originally planned for the Ross Aragon Community Center has moved to the Archuleta County Courthouse, at 109 Harman Park Drive. It is open on Election Day from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.
The Pagosa Springs Town Hall ballot drop box is closed; a mobile drop box is available in the parking lot at 10 Solomon Drive. Archuleta County voters can also use the joint Archuleta-La Plata voter center at Pine River Library in Bayfield and request a replacement ballot with local contests. At voter centers outside their home county, they can request a replacement ballot with statewide races only.
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