Colorado Election Results LIVE: Gary Johnson Could Be a Factor With Obama and Romney Tied

Impact
By Ella Peterson

With Colorado's nine electoral votes up for grabs in the presidential election, it's an important swing state to watch on Tuesday. Polls show President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney statistically tied, making the race too close to call. Furthermore, third party candidates like Libertarian nominee Gary Johnson could draw voters dissatisfied with the two-party system's stranglehold. 

In addition, Colorado's Amendment 64, also known as the Regulate Marijuana Like Alcohol Act, is a vital ballot initiative to watch. If it passes, it could directly challenge federal marijuana laws. Polls show support for the measure with at least a five point advantage over opposition. However, turnout of younger voters may be the key to its passage. 

PolicyMic will be covering the 2012 election results from the state of Colorado live. For live updates, bookmark and refresh this page. 

UPDATE: 9:17 PM The Denver Post has called Colorado for Obama. It also appears that Amendment 64 will pass with a comfortable margin. 

9:07 PM Obama is leading in two of Colorado's most important swing counties, Jefferson and Arapahoe. Good news for him, and bad news for Romney.

8:38 PM Since I don't want to be like the major networks that call races with 1% of precincts reporting, let's just call this a tentative assessment. But it looks like 64 voters might have broken for Obama. Which as my friend Tyler pointed out is "interesting considering his staunch support of the drug war." 

8:28 PM Romney inching a bit closer, but Obama still leads 50% to 47%. And the big news is of course, that Amendment 64 maintains its lead with 52% in favor and 47% against. 

8:19 PM Amen, brother. 

8:04 PM There are still a lot of counties that haven't reported yet, but the presidential race is not looking as close as I was expecting. Obama still leads with 52%, trailed by Romney with 45%. Gary Johnson is still at 1%. 

7:52 PM  With spending on Amendment 64 reaching over $3 million, TV ads got added to fray:

 

7:45 PM Let's be honest, Colorado might be a swing state, but the big story here is Amendment 64. It's currently leading with 411,958 votes in favor (53%) over 357,841 votes against (46%).

7:25 PM Results are starting to trickle in. With only a few precincts reporting, 50% for Obama, 47% for Romney, and 1% for Gary Johnson. For Amendment 64, 52% in favor and 47% opposed. Regardless, it's way too early to generalize.

6:45 PM Polls close in Colorado at 7:00 PM. However, a majority of votes were cast prior to today (1.7 million out of a potential 2.7 million). Results should start coming in soon.