The Denver Green Roof Initiative’s margin of victory in this week’s election has settled at 8.6 percentage points, according to the final unofficial results released Thursday night by the Denver Elections Division after the normal ballot count was complete.
The initiative, on the ballot as Initiated Ordinance 300, had a total of 137,917 votes — 54.29 percent, yes; and 45.71 percent, no.
In another initially close race, Denver Public Schools board challenger Carrie A. Olson won by a margin of 7.72 percentage points over District 3 incumbent Mike Johnson in the results released at about 8 p.m. Thursday. Olson received 16,272 votes, 53.86 percent; to Johnson’s 13,938 votes, 46.14 percent. The race had a 831-vote margin early Wednesday morning.
In the DPS District 2 board race, Angela Cobián’s final margin over Xochitl “Sochi” Gaytán was 4.86 percent, compared to 6.7 percentage points early Wednesday and 6.3 Thursday afternoon. The final margin was 753 votes separating the two contenders for the open seat.
The leads in those races have never flipped since polls closed Tuesday night. Denver city officials, including Mayor Michael Hancock, already were treating the Green Roof Initiative as though it would pass, given its growing lead with every release of results.
The initiative will require that most larger new buildings constructed in the city — and some existing ones, when their roofs are replaced — include rooftop gardens, potentially in combination with solar panels.
The initiative’s margin widened significantly from 7 p.m. Tuesday, when the first results from early voting were released — showing a margin of just over 2 percentage points — to Thursday night, when the final margin settled at nearly 9 percentage points.
Denver Elections reported a final unofficial turnout of 142,952, or nearly 32 percent of registered voters. That is considered higher than usual for an off-year election, though it’s much lower than the turnout in a presidential election.
Denver Elections spokesman Alton Dillard said more voters than usual returned ballots on Election Day, resulting in the count extending multiple days. The long two-card ballot also has affected processing time, he said.