How voting works for Colorado's 2022 General Election

The 2022 General Election is Nov. 8, but Coloradans will be able to cast their ballots starting in mid-October. Colorado is considered to have among the safest, easiest voting systems in the United States. Here's what makes it easy: 

GoVoteColorado.com 

You can check your voter registration online, and if you're not registered, you can do so right there. In Colorado, you can register and vote until the polls close at 7 p.m. on Election Day if you are voting in person.

If you've moved since the last election, you can also check the address to make sure the correct one is one file. Ballots are not forwarded when they are mailed out. If you receive a ballot for someone who no longer lives at your address, write "Return to sender — no longer at this address" on the outside of the unopened envelope and drop it back in the mail. Never vote on someone else's ballot; that's fraud.

That site also gives you the opportunity to look at a sample ballot before they are mailed out. And if you need more information on ballot issues and have lost your Blue Book, you can find a digital copy.

Getting your ballot

Colorado automatically mails out ballots beginning the week of Oct. 17. If you don't receive a ballot by Oct. 26, the Larimer County Clerk and Recorder Office recommends contacting your county clerk's office if you want to vote by mail. If you do want to return your ballot by mail, it requires a single first-class stamp, and make sure you mail it no later than Oct. 31. Anyone using a mail ballot must make sure that ballot is turned in by 7 p.m. on Nov. 8; a postmark does not count

If you don't want to put your ballot in the mail, you can drop in ballot boxes placed throughout communities. In 2020, 75% of ballots are returned this way. Those boxes are all weather-resistant and bolted to the group. Colorado law requires they be kept under 24-hour surveillance with adequate lighting, so it's easy to detect any potential tampering. They are emptied at least every 24 hours by bipartisan election judges who keep a detailed chain of custody to ensure no ballots are removed or added.

And many voters can track their ballot's progress in Colorado through Ballot Trax.

Make sure you sign that ballot! Those signatures are checked, and if an election judge believes there is a discrepancy, you will be notified and given the opportunity to "cure" or confirm your vote with a text.

I want to vote in person

In-person voting starts on Oct. 24. The state has hundreds of centers around Colorado. They're open through Election Day except on Sundays and Oct. 29. Check with your county clerk's office for locations and hours. Those centers will be open from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 8. And if you are in line to vote at 7 p.m., you will be allowed to vote no matter how long it takes.

You can also drop ballots at those voting centers.

Clerks start counting

Clerks can start counting ballots they've received, but no results can be reported until after 7 p.m. on Election Day. Even though the Secretary of State expects the majority of ballots to be turned in before Election Day, it will take time to release all the results.

After the Election

That curing process continues with a deadline of Nov. 10 for clerks to notify voters about any problems with their ballot. Voters have until Nov. 16 to cure ballots. That's also the last deadline for military and overseas ballots to arrive. If no recounts are deemed necessary by the Secretary of State, the election is certified by Dec. 5. If recounts are deemed necessary, they must be done by Dec. 13. Dec. 6 is the last day interested parties can request recounts at their own expense. Those recounts must be done by Dec. 15.