Sangre de Cristo Electric Association Announces Results of 2024 Board of Directors Election

June 6, 2024 – Sangre de Cristo Electric Association (SDCEA) announced today the results of its 2024 Board of Directors election. Incumbent Charles A. Abel II and new board member Sandra Long have been elected to serve three-year terms as board representatives for the Rural Lake/Chaffee County and At Large seats, respectively. The incumbent and newly elected directors will assume their three-year terms at the upcoming board meeting on June 27.

In the race, Long won over Ed Simmons to represent the cooperative’s members at-large, securing 1,688 votes to Simmons’ 790. This seat was an open seat, previously held by Dan Daly, who passed away in November 2023. Abel, the rural Lake/Chaffee counties representative, was re-elected unopposed with 1,997 votes.

12,127 SDCEA members as of April 8 were eligible to vote in the election, which offered both mail-in and online balloting options. Ballots and online votes were managed by Survey & Ballot Systems (SBS), a third-party election service, and had to be received by or cast online by 1 p.m. on June 3 to be counted. The election saw a voter turnout of 21%, with 2,547 ballots submitted—1,366 online and 1,219 by mail. The results were certified on June 6 by an SDCEA board-appointed election and credential committee. One panel member was from Custer County, and two from Chaffee County. Deadline to vote was June 3.

On average in Colorado voter turnout for cooperative elections is 16 percent. Nationwide, the average is 13 percent. Results by service territory county will be released when available from SBS.

SDCEA operates as an electric cooperative, a business model owned and controlled by its members – consumer account holders. Due to the impracticality of direct decision-making by all members, SDCEA is governed by an elected board of directors. These directors, acting collectively, employ the cooperative’s Chief Executive Officer, establish operating policies, and set overall business goals.

Seven board members oversee SDCEA’s operations, each representing different geographic areas within the cooperative’s service territory. Board member terms are staggered over three years to ensure continuous governance. This year, elections were held for two seats, one At Large seat, and one seat representing Rural Chaffee/Lake County. Cooperative members are eligible to vote for all candidates, irrespective of their district of residence. There is one vote per cooperative membership.

SDCEA is committed to serving its 14,500 member accounts across Chaffee, Fremont, Custer, Lake, and Saguache counties as a not-for-profit electric cooperative.

For more information about the election or to view the campaign expenditure disclosure forms, please visit our website at myelectric.coop/about/sdcea-election-center/.