An incomplete registered voters list has caused the High Desert Conservation District mill levy election on May 8 to be canceled.

The special district was seeking a .5 mill levy to fund its agricultural service and educational programs. The district currently has no mil levy.

But last week, the district discovered that the list of registered voters in the district had left out substantial amounts of property owners, according to a statement issued by the district. The error was discovered April 24.

“With the very short time frame left before the end of the election, it became impossible to assure that these eligible voters would timely receive their ballots before the May 8 election day,” according to the statement signed by district board members.

The High Desert Conservation District boundaries encompass western Montezuma County, minus the town of Dolores and the city of Cortez’s 1942 boundary.

However, since 1942, the Cortez boundary has expanded, but those property owners did not receive a mail-in ballot, even though they are eligible to vote in the district election.

High Dessert officials explained that the proposed tax levy “must be approved in a fair, honest, representative election,” and that the most “credible path forward is to cancel the election and bring a fair election before voters at a later date.”

Ballots already collected will be properly disposed of, said district manager Victoria Peterson Lewis. For those who have not dropped off or mailed their ballots, it is no longer necessary to do so. “Our district programs and services are continuing on as normal,” Peterson said.

There is a similar, yet unrelated, mil levy election currently being conducted within the Mancos Conservation District boundaries. The canceled High Desert Conservation District mil levy election does not affect the Mancos Conservation District election.