One week after announcing his withdrawal from the Loveland City Council race, Rian Fierros has yet to submit the paperwork to formally disqualify himself, City Clerk Patti Garcia said.
After the paperwork is submitted, any votes cast for Fierros will no longer be counted.
For now, Garcia said, he remains a legitimate candidate, at least on paper.
“There is nothing I can do at this point and nothing the county can do,” she said.
Garcia said her office is researching what would happen if Fierros were to earn the most votes without having submitted the paperwork in time. She said she does not yet know what the result would be if Fierros won and refused to be sworn in.
Fierros emailed Garcia on Saturday to tell her that he would be withdrawing from the race. She has since asked Fierros to submit the necessary paperwork, but as of Friday evening, she said she had not received anything.
Larimer County Clerk and Recorder Angela Myers added that electronic voting machines will not be reprogrammed to exclude Fierros’ name, even if he does submit the paperwork, and that Ward IV voters will not be able to vote a second time for a different candidate, even if they cast a ballot for Fierros.
“His name is absolutely on the ballot, and all of the ballots are sent out,” she said.
Fierros responded to a prior request for comment Monday, confirming that his campaign was over and that he was shifting his focus to his family.
He said he hoped that a new crop of councilors or a newly focused group of incumbents would bring more accountability and oversight to the council.
He also hinted at a return to politics in 2021.
“I will be back in two years and with it a bit more insight than naivete,” he wrote.