Voting By Mail In Colorado – What You Need To Know

In case you haven't heard, turned on a TV, read a newspaper or generally been upright and breathing the last year or so, this is a pretty big election year.

November 5, 2024 is election day for a whole host of different positions across our government at all levels from President of the United States on down to local dog catcher. Just kidding. You don't actually vote for dog catchers.

Another element of this 2024 election - and in fact, the last several elections - is the ability to vote by mail. Sometimes it's viewed as controversial, but ten out of ten times it's more convenient than waiting in line at your local polling place to vote. Plus, you have the added perk of doing your research in real time on the internet at home as you fill out your ballot, rather than having to remember your choices or take notes for when you're in the little voting booth at the library or wherever you like to vote.

For starters, every registered voter in the State of Colorado is sent a ballot in the mail by default. What's great about this is it allows you to take your time in advance and do your research, especially when it comes to voting on issues. You can then simply fill out your ballot at home, seal it up and mail it back. Or if you're like me, you can still go drop it off at your assigned polling place. That's what I like to call the hybrid approach. That way you still get your little flag sticker. No respectable social media post the last couple weeks of October or on election day is complete without telling everyone you know that you voted. That was sarcasm, by the way.

Ballots in the state will begin being mailed out by individual counties on Friday, October 11 and all ballots are required to have hit the mail by Friday, October 18.

All ballot drop boxes must be open by October 21, so you can begin dropping them off at that point, all the way up until 7 PM on election day, if you drop it off in person.

One important thing to note: postmark dates don't count like filing taxes, so if you put it in the mail November 5 and it's postmarked that day, but doesn't arrive till a couple days after election day, it's late and won't count. So if you do mail it in, make sure you mail it early as it must ARRIVE before election day to be counted .

If you're not already registered to vote and want to vote in this election, you have until October 28 to register.

You can register to vote on the State of Colorado Secretary of State's website.