Your Guide to the 2024 Election

Sections

Colorado voters start getting their ballots on October 11, and Election Day is November 5. There's a lot to keep straight this year. Key Senate and House seats at both the national and Colorado levels are up for grabs. More than a dozen initiatives are on the ballot. Oh, and there's a presidential race, too. This guide is intended to help you keep matters straight as you navigate this complex and important election season.

Voting 101

How to register to vote

• Register here

Your ballot will arrive in the mail at the address you provided when you registered. Don't delay; your ballot must be postmarked by October 28, or it may not arrive in time to be counted.

How to confirm your registration or change your information

• Check or update it here

Make your changes at least eight days before the election if you want to receive your ballot by mail.

How to submit your ballot

Mail: Make sure you send it back no closer than a week before the election to ensure it gets to your county clerk's office in time to be counted. You'll need first-class postage unless you drop it in a dropbox.

Dropbox: Colorado has more than 350 ballot dropboxes statewide. You'll need to make sure you're using a dropbox in your county of residence. However, if you accidentally drop your ballot off in the wrong county, the clerk there will try to route it to where it belongs.

In-Person: You must provide identification, such as a driver's license.

Polling places in La Plata, Montezuma, and Archuleta Counties are listed on this page.

How to track your ballot

• Sign up at Colorado's Ballot Trax system

Ballot Trax will send you messages updating you on when your ballot has been mailed, received back at the clerk’s office, and processed.

Where to vote

Keeping up with this year's ballot measures

View and download the 2024 State Ballot Information Book (The "Blue Book"): https://leg.colorado.gov/sites/default/files/2024-blue-book-english-accessible.pdf

Colorado Capitol Coverage reporter Lucas Brady Woods also looks at this year's initiatives in this story:

David Zalubowski

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AP

Government & Politics

Coloradans will vote on 14 ballot measures in November. Here’s what they mean.

More than a dozen statewide ballot measures are on the November ballot. They deal with major issues like abortion, gun violence, elections, and conservation, but they can also be confusing. What does a “yes” vote on any of them really mean?

See sample ballots

La Plata County

• Durango residents
• La Plata County residents in the 9-R School District
• Bayfield and Ignacio residents

Montezuma County

• Cortez School District Issue 4-B
• Cortez Fire District Issue 6-A
• Dolores School District Issue 4-A

Archuleta County

• Countywide Ballot

Answers to your election questions

Compiled by Colorado Public Radio

I keep hearing Colorado is a “mail ballot” state. What does that really mean?

Ahead of each election, Colorado mails ballots to each registered, active voter in the state. Some registered voters may be considered “inactive,” and not get a ballot, if their local clerk has a reason to believe they no longer live at the address on their registration (like election-related mail has been returned as undelivered). Inactive voters have to update their registration information in order to get a mail ballot.

I’m nervous about the USPS. What if my ballot doesn’t arrive in time?

You are not required to use the ballot the state sends to you. Voter Centers will open around the state no later than Oct. 30 (and some will open earlier than that). Any voter who has not already returned a ballot can go to one and vote in person there. Just don’t then also return your mail ballot when it arrives. The system will flag that you’ve returned two ballots and you could face prosecution.

What happens if I'll be away from home when they send out ballots and won't be back before the election?

You can still get a ballot and vote even if you're away from home. From now until the vote centers open, you can pick one up in person from your county clerk's office. You can also get your ballot sent to a temporary address. To get information specific to your situation, call your county clerk's office (find the number here).

I’ve gotten my ballot and I don’t want to vote on everything on it. Will my ballot still be counted if I leave some races blank?

Yes. There is absolutely no requirement that you vote in every race or on every issue on your ballot.

How late can I put my ballot in the drop box and still have it counted?

Election judges should be on hand to close each drop box at exactly 7 p.m. on election night. At that time they’ll also collect all remaining ballots in the box. If you are trying to vote in person, and you’re in line by 7 p.m., you will still be allowed to vote, even after the polls have officially closed.

What kind of safeguards are in place to ensure no one steals my ballot and votes it fraudulently?

To keep the vote secure, Colorado relies heavily on signature verification. Once your ballot has been received at the clerk’s office, an election judge will compare the signatures on your envelope with the signature they have on file for you. If the two don’t match, your ballot is rejected.

I want to be sure the signature on file matches my current signature so that my mail-in ballot is not rejected — how can I do so?

There’s no way to directly review which signature the election judge will be seeing on their screen.

But here’s some information that might set your mind at ease a bit: The signature check system defaults to an image of the most recent signed document the government received from you. Which, if you are a dedicated voter, could be as recently as the last time you returned a ballot. The system does keep all of your old signatures on file too, in case the people doing the verifying want to review a few more examples before making their call.

Here’s a handy guide with some pointers to make sure your signature is accepted.

But if your signature is rejected, the clerk is required to contact you and give you time to “cure” the problem so that your ballot will be counted. We have more information about that in the next answer.

What happens if my ballot is rejected?

There are a couple of reasons a ballot might be rejected: your signature could have changed so much that it doesn’t match the one on file anymore, or you just forgot to sign your ballot altogether, or you live with another voter and you two got confused and put your ballots in each other’s envelopes (it happens!)

In any of those cases, your ballot is set aside while election officials try to reach you by email, phone or a letter to let you know there’s a problem. Various political groups also get lists of voters whose ballots were rejected and may try to reach out to you to encourage you to fix it. Voters have until eight days after the election (that’s Nov.15 this year) to deal with any problem with their ballot in order to have it counted. That can be done by mail or by going to the clerk’s office or using your phone and a program from the state called Text2Cure.

When does ballot counting start in Colorado?

Ballots are tallied before the election, but not counted up until the polls close. Election workers open the envelopes as they arrive and — after verifying the signatures — run them through tabulating machines. Those scan the ballots and record how each person voted, but they don't just automatically add it all up. That data isn't calculated and revealed until the polls close on Election Night, and someone hits "tabulate."

That system is why everyone involved in the election process — and those of us who cover it, and those of you who like going to bed at a reasonable hour — really want voters to return their ballots as early as possible. That way, officials can have as many as possible already scanned in when the polls close, making for much earlier election results when the races aren't close.