2024 election in Colorado: Key dates and how to vote

COLORADO, USA — With Election Day quickly approaching on Nov. 5, here is what you need to know about voting in Colorado and some key dates for voter registration and voting.

If you’re a procrastinator, Colorado voters have until Election Day to register to vote.

If you have a valid Colorado driver’s license or state issued ID card from the Colorado Department of Revenue, you can register to vote at www.GoVoteColorado.gov. You can also register with the last four digits of your social security number.

If you don’t want to register online, there are printable voter registration forms. The forms are available on the Secretary of State’s website, your local county clerk and recorder’s office and any post office that provides voter registration applications. You can then mail, fax or scan and email your completed and signed form to your county clerk and recorder’s office.

Another way to register is going in-person. Here’s a list of physical locations you can go to:

• A Colorado Department of Motor Vehicle office when you apply for a driver’s license or update your driver’s license
• Offices that provide public assistance, including offices that provide state funded programs primarily engaged in providing services to persons with disabilities
• Recruitment offices of the armed forces of the United States
• Any federal, state or local government office or any nongovernment office that chooses to provide voter registration service or applications
• A voter service and polling center
• Local voter registration drives

If you have already registered to vote, you can confirm your registration at www.GoVoteColorado.gov. Once your registration is verified, you can update your address and party affiliation as well.

If your voter registration is inactive, you can change your inactive status by submitting a signed request or an online voter registration application, or making an in-person request.

While you can register to vote until Election Day, how you register will affect how you receive your ballot.

If you want to receive your ballot by mail, you must do one of these things:

• Register to vote or update your voter registration online at www.GoVoteColorado.gov until eight days before Election Day, Oct. 28.
• Submit an application through the mail, at a voter registration agency or at a local driver’s license examination facility until eight days before Election Day, Oct. 28.
• Submit an application through a voter registration drive no later than 22 days before Election Day, Oct. 15.

If you register to vote after the deadlines, you will not receive a mail ballot and have to go to a voter service and polling center to receive a ballot. You can also vote in-person leading up to Election Day or on Election Day starting at 7 a.m. at polling locations.

Provisional ballots can also be issued to a voter whose eligibility to vote is not immediately established on Election Day. These ballots ensure that every qualified and registered voter can vote and be counted on Election Day. 

The election judge will give you a receipt when you cast a provisional ballot. This receipt will tell you the status of your provisional ballot and if it was accepted. Your provisional ballot won’t be counted if you vote in the wrong county.

Your provisional ballot should be counted if you complete the provisional ballot affidavit and the election official confirms your eligibility to vote after Election Day has passed.

In Colorado, every voter registered by a certain date receives a ballot by mail. Ballots will start to be mailed out on Oct. 11 and will be sent to the mailing address you provided during your voter registration. To check the address on file or to make any changes to your voter registration, go to www.GoVoteColorado.gov. 

All mail ballots must be received by the county clerk and recorder no later than 7 p.m. Nov. 5. You can drop off ballots at designated drop-off locations or drop-box locations, or mail your ballot in time for it to be received by the county clerk before 7 p.m. on Election Day. Postmarks don’t count, and the ballot will not be counted unless it is with the county clerk before 7 p.m. on Election Day.

The Secretary of State recommends that Oct. 28 be the last day to return your ballot by mail.

You can check the status of your mail ballot by visiting www.GoVoteColorado.gov to login to your voter record. It will show whether your mail ballot has been mailed. 

If you have further questions about your mail ballot’s status, contact your local county clerk and recorder’s office or sign up for BallotTrax. It’s a system that allows you to track your ballot from sent to accepted.

If you’ve registered for the first time, you may need to provide a copy of your ID along with your mail ballot. Your county clerk will have provided instructions about the ID requirement along with your ballot.

If you don’t receive your mail ballot or you lose it, damage it or make a mistake, you can request a replacement mail ballot from your county clerk or vote in-person at a voter service and polling center.

If you prefer to vote at the polls, they are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day. You must be in line at your polling center or voter service center by 7 p.m. for your vote to be counted. People are allowed to vote no matter how long it takes for each person to cast his or her ballot.

All voters who vote in-person must provide identification. Common acceptable forms of identification include:

• Valid Colorado driver’s license
• Valid ID issued by the Colorado Department of Revenue
• Valid U.S. passport
• Valid U.S. military identification card with a photograph of the eligible voter
• A copy of a current (within the last 60 days) utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck or other government document that shows the name and address of the voter
• A certified copy of an U.S. birth certificate

Visit the Secretary of State’s website to see other accepted forms of identification.

Colorado’s early voting runs from Oct. 21 through Nov. 4. Not all polling locations participate in early voting, so check your chosen location to see when they are open.

Absentee voting is limited to U.S. citizens who are at least 18 and do not currently live at their voting residence.

You can request an absentee ballot on the Federal Voting Assistance Program website at any time until Nov. 5. Ballots must be received by eight days after the election, on Nov. 13.