Douglas County voters approved expanding the Board of County Commissioners from three members to five on Nov. 3, but two conflicting ballot questions about how to elect those new seats also passed, all but guaranteeing a court fight over the outcome.

Ballot Question 200, the citizen-led expansion measure, led 52.2% to 47.8% in unofficial returns, according to Douglas County CO. That amounts to 97,516 yes votes to 89,280 no votes in the county's early Nov. 4 update. Counting continues.

The problem: voters also approved two measures that give opposite answers on how to pick the new commissioners.

Question 201, part of the original citizen petition, asked voters to choose between electing all five commissioners by district or keeping two at-large seats. The all-district option won with 58.1% of the vote, or 104,106 votes.

Question 1A, which the current three commissioners added to the ballot on Aug. 31, asked whether all county voters should continue to elect every commissioner countywide. It passed with 72.8% support and 133,227 yes votes.

Those results point in opposite directions. One says district elections. The other says countywide.

Angela Thomas, who organized the petition to expand the board, told Denver7 she expects the conflict to land in court. "I anticipate litigation, and that is something that's yet to be seen," Thomas said. "But I anticipate that that will happen to help us make this decision."

Thomas called Question 1A an illegal measure and said organizers planned to meet within 36 hours of the election to decide next steps.

State Rep. Bob Marshall, who represents Highlands Ranch, filed a legal protest against Question 1A in district court on Sept. 7, according to CBS Colorado. A judge left 1A on the ballot at that time, with the parties set to return to court if it passed.

"The court recognized it didn't match state law, but didn't feel like they had the authority at that time to do anything," Marshall told CBS Colorado.

Commissioner George Teal defended Question 1A, telling Denver7 that even the two options required under state law by the petitioners conflicted with one another. Teal said he supported putting the expansion question to voters and trusts their decision.

Teal said the county will need to form a redistricting commission to draw new district boundaries. He said two new commissioners would be elected in 2028 and sworn in by 2029, though the county has not set a firm timeline.

"We haven't talked about any specific timeline on when we contemplate these things," Teal told Denver7.

The Douglas County Republican Party opposed the expansion. First Vice Chair Matt Smith said in a statement to Denver7 that the party respects the voters' decision but is "encouraged by the overwhelming support for 1A and the clear preference voters expressed for countywide representation."

Commissioner Kevin Van Winkle, in a statement to CBS Colorado, pointed to Question 1A's margin. He said the measure earned nearly 73% of the vote with over 136,000 ballots cast, calling it the highest vote-getter on the entire Douglas County ballot.

The expansion was the first citizen-led initiative to make the Douglas County ballot in 32 years, according to CBS Colorado. The Denver Post reported that state law allows counties with at least 70,000 residents to expand to five-member commissions, but only five Colorado counties have done so: Adams, Arapahoe, El Paso, Pitkin and Weld.

All results remain unofficial.