Voter Registration
Registration Deadline: Colorado law allows you to register to vote through Election Day. Please note that how you register to vote will impact how you receive your ballot.
To receive your ballot by mail:
-Register to vote or update your voter registration online at www.GoVoteColorado.com through the 8th day before Election Day
-Submit an application through the mail, at a voter registration agency, or at a local driver's license examination facility through the 8th day before Election Day
-Submit an application through a voter registration drive no later than 22 days before Election Day.
If you miss the above deadlines, you may register in-person at a voter service and polling center in your county through Election Day.
Automatic Voter Registration
When an individual interacts with certain agencies, such as the DMV, they usually will provide information such as name, address, date of birth, etc. This information is then used to register that individual to vote in Colorado.
The elector’s county clerk will verify if they have a complete record to register the individual to vote. If the elector’s record is complete, the county clerk will send a notice to the elector that they are registered to vote. The elector can return the notice to either decline to be registered or to affiliate with a party. If the elector does not decline to be registered within 20 days after the notice is mailed and the form is not returned as undeliverable, the elector is then registered to vote.
Political Party Affiliation
During either the Presidential or June primary:
Voters affiliated with a major party: may cast a ballot for candidates of the party they are affiliated with.
Voters affiliated with a minor party: if there is a minor party contest those affiliated with that minor party may cast a ballot for those candidates.
Unaffiliated voters: An unaffiliated voter may cast a ballot for any one political party. If an unaffiliated voter returns a ballot with more than one political party, the ballot will be rejected and none of the votes will be counted. An unaffiliated voter who votes in a party's primary will remain unaffiliated. However, the primary that you vote in will be public record (but not how you voted).
Voter Registration Qualifications
Age: Are 16 years old, but you must be at least 18 on Election Day to vote
Citizenship: Must be a United States citizen
Residency: Must have resided in Colorado 22 days immediately before the election at which you intend to vote.
Felony Convictions: In Colorado, it is illegal to register to vote or cast a vote while serving a sentence of incarceration or detention for a felony conviction. Persons serving a sentence of parole may vote.
An Individual in jail awaiting trial or serving a sentence for a misdemeanor conviction has the right to register to vote and vote in any election. Individuals in these situations should contact their jail administrator to coordinate voter registration if they are not already registered.
For more information see the Voting and Conviction FAQ.
Obtaining a Voter Registration Form
Online: Colorado Online Voter Registration
In person: You can also register in person at:
-A Colorado Department of Motor Vehicle office when you apply for a driver's license, or update your driver's license information.
-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, local government, or nongovernment office that chooses to provide voter registration service or applications.
-A voter service and polling center.
-Registering through a voter registration drive.
By mail/in writing: You may mail, deliver, or scan and email your complete and signed form to your county clerk and recorder’s office. Mailed forms also accepted at Colorado Department of State Elections Division.
Verifying Your Voter Registration Status
Online: Colorado Online Voter Registration Verification
MAIL-IN BALLOT QUALIFICATIONS
Every voter now receives a mail ballot. If you want to vote at the polls, vote in-person at a voter service and polling center.
Military and Overseas Voters: Colorado citizens living outside the United States and all active military personnel absent from Colorado are eligible to register and vote by mail as UOCAVA voters. UOCAVA provisions also cover the spouses, civil union partners, and voting dependents of active military personnel absent from Colorado. An eligible elector can register to vote up to and on Election Day. But if you wish to receive a mail ballot, the application must be received by the designated election official by the close of business on the 7th day before the election. Please keep in mind that if you would like to receive the ballot by mail, 7 days may not be a sufficient amount of time to receive, vote, and return your ballot. Military and overseas voters can also request to have their ballots be sent by fax, email, or by downloading a ballot online. For more information click here.
SUBMITTING A MAIL-IN BALLOT
Your ballot must be received by your county elections office no later than 7:00 p.m. on Election Day. Voters are encouraged to drop off ballots at designated drop off locations, drop-box locations, or mail their ballots in time to be received by the county clerk before the polls close. Postmarks do not count; ballots must be in the hands of the county clerk by 7:00 PM on Election Day in order to be counted. Contact your county clerk and recorder for drop-off and drop-box locations.
If you are voting by mail for the first time, you may also need to provide a photocopy of your identification when you return your mail ballot. Click here for more accepted forms of identification.
VOTING ON ELECTION DAY
Voters who are in line at their polling location by 7:00 PM 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. While there are many forms of acceptable identification, most voters find it convenient to bring their Colorado driver's license or Colorado ID. A Colorado ID is available at no cost to those who are eligible. For more information on obtaining a Colorado ID, please contact the Colorado Department of Revenue.
Under Colorado law, voters may get time off without loss of pay if they do not have sufficient time outside of regular working hours to vote. Please refer to Section 1-7-102 of the Colorado Revised Statutes for details.
PROVISIONAL VOTING
A provisional ballot is provided to a voter whose eligibility to vote is not immediately established on Election Day. Provisional ballots ensure that every qualified and registered voter can vote a ballot that will be counted on Election Day. The election official then evaluates the voter's eligibility after Election Day has passed to determine whether the provisional ballot should be counted. Click here for more information.
COLLEGE STUDENT VOTERS
College students that are residents of Colorado may keep their registration in their hometown and vote by mail.
Alternatively, if the student attends a college or university out-of-state and wishes to register to vote there, they should check that state's voter registration rules. Should the student change their voter registration to a different state, they are no longer eligible to vote in Colorado.
Additional Information
Deciding how to vote: https://votesmart.org
Polling Place: Click here to find locations.
Verifying Mail-In ballot status: Mail-In Ballot Status Verification
Election/HAVA Complaint Process: Click here for more information
This initiative would provide a right to abortion in the state constitution. The initiative would prohibit the state or local governments from denying or impeding the right to an abortion and allow abortion to be a covered service under health insurance plans. The initiative would repeal Section 50 of Article V of the Colorado Constitution, adopted in 1984, which prohibited the use of public funds for abortion.
An amendment to the Colorado constitution establishing the right to school choice for children in kindergarten through 12th grade, and, in connection therewith, declaring that school choice includes neighborhood, charter, and private schools; home schooling; open enrollment options; and future innovations in education.
The state constitution allows a veteran who has a service-connected disability rated as a 100% permanent disability to claim a property tax exemption for a portion of the actual value of the veteran's owner-occupied primary residence. The 100% permanent disability requirement can only be changed through a constitutional amendment.
The concurrent resolution submits a constitutional amendment to the voters of the state at the 2024 general election that will, if approved, expand eligibility for the exemption by allowing a veteran who has individual unemployability status, as determined by the U.S. department of veterans affairs, to claim the exemption. In most cases, to have individual unemployability status, a veteran must be unable to keep a steady job because the veteran either has at least one service-connected disability rated at 60% or more disabling or has 2 or more service-connected disabilities with at least one disability rated at 40% or more disabling and a combined rating of 70% or more disabling.
To conform to the existing public policy of the state that "people first language" be used in new or amended legislation that refers to persons with disabilities, the concurrent resolution also changes the existing defined term "disabled veteran" to "veteran with a disability".
The concurrent resolution amends section 23 of article VI of the Colorado constitution as it relates to judicial discipline. The resolution permits the general assembly to provide in law the process for the supreme court to select the judge members of the Colorado commission on judicial disciple (commission). The resolution specifies that the commission may dismiss complaints and repeals the commission's authority to request appointment of special masters.
The resolution repeals the commission's authority to order formal judicial disciplinary proceedings be held before the commission and creates an independent adjudicative board (board) to conduct formal proceedings and hear appeals of the commission's orders imposing informal sanctions. The board is comprised of 4 district court judges, 4 attorneys, and 4 citizens. The resolution prohibits a member of the commission from being appointed to the board and prohibits a member of the board from being appointed to the commission. A randomly selected panel of the board (panel), comprised of one judge, one attorney, and one citizen, conducts formal proceedings in a case. The resolution permits the panel to dismiss a complaint, impose informal sanctions, or impose formal sanctions.
The resolution sets the standards of review to be used by the supreme court when it reviews a panel's decision. The resolution requires a tribunal of 7 randomly selected court of appeals and district judges to review the panel's decision when: The proceedings involve a complaint against a Colorado supreme court justice; a Colorado supreme court justice, a staff member to a justice, or a family member of a justice is a complainant or a material witness in the proceeding; or more than 2 justices have recused themselves from the proceeding. The tribunal reviews the panel's decision in the same manner and using the same standards of review as the supreme court does when it reviews panel decisions.
Under existing law, commission proceedings are confidential until the commission files recommendations with the supreme court. The resolution makes proceedings public at the commencement of formal proceedings but clarifies that appeals of informal remedial sanctions to the board are confidential. The resolution clarifies that a person is absolutely immune from any action for defamation based on papers filed with or testimony before the commission, adjudicative board, supreme court, or a tribunal. The resolution clarifies the circumstances in which the commission may release otherwise confidential information.
The resolution creates a rule-making committee to adopt rules for the judicial discipline process. The rule-making committee consists of 4 members appointed by the supreme court, 4 members appointed by the board, 4 members appointed by the commission, and one victim's advocate appointed by the governor. The rules must include the standards and degree of proof to be applied in judicial discipline proceedings; confidential reporting procedures; and complainant rights. The Colorado rules of evidence and Colorado rules of civil procedure apply to proceedings before a panel until and unless the rule-making committee promulgates rules specifically governing panel proceedings.
The constitution guarantees all persons the right to bail pending disposition of charges, with exceptions for capital offenses and crimes of violence under certain circumstances. The concurrent resolution amends the Colorado constitution to add an exception for the offense of murder in the first degree when proof is evident or presumption is great.
The Colorado constitution states that a marriage is valid only if it is between one man and one woman. That provision has been unenforceable since the United States supreme court decision in Obergefell v. Hodges, 576 U.S. 644 (2015). The concurrent resolution repeals the provision.
To facilitate the addition of an extra week between the secretary of state's deadline to certify ballot order and content pursuant to law and election officials' deadline to transmit ballots pursuant to the federal "Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act", the act submits a constitutional amendment to the voters of the state at the 2024 general election that will, if approved:
Change the date by which initiative petitions must be filed with the secretary of state from at least 3 months before the general election at which they are to be voted on to at least 3 months and one week before that election;
Change the date by which referendum petitions must be filed with the secretary of state from not more than 90 days after the final adjournment of the session of the general assembly that enacted the act on which the referendum is demanded to not more than 83 days after the final adjournment of that session;
Change the date by which the nonpartisan research staff of the general assembly shall publish the text and title of every measure from at least 15 days prior to the final date of voter registration for the election to 45 days before the election; and
Change the period during which a justice of the supreme court or a judge of any other court must file with the secretary of state a declaration of intent to run for another term from not more than 6 months or less than 3 months prior to the general election before the expiration of the judge's term to not more than 6 months and one week or less than 3 months and one week before that general election.
The proposed ballot measure reads: "Shall there be a change to the Colorado Revised Statutes concerning a prohibition on the trophy hunting of mountain lions, lynx, and bobcats, and, in connection therewith, defining trophy hunting as the intentional killing, wounding, pursuing, entrapping, or discharging or releasing of a deadly weapon at a mountain lion, lynx, or bobcat; creating exemptions from this prohibition including for the protection of human life, property, and livestock; establishing trophy hunting as a class 1 misdemeanor; and increasing fines and limiting wildlife license privileges for persons convicted of this crime?"
Changes the Colorado Revised Statutes concerning parole eligibility for an offender convicted of certain crimes, and, in connection therewith, requiring an offender who is convicted of second degree murder; first degree assault; class 2 felony kidnapping; sexual assault; first degree arson; first degree burglary; or aggravated robbery committed on or after January 1, 2025, to serve 85 percent of the sentence imposed before being eligible for parole, and requiring an offender convicted of any such crime committed on or after January 1, 2025, who was previously convicted of any two crimes of violence, not just those crimes enumerated in this measure, to serve the full sentence imposed before beginning to serve parole
Creates the state-regulated profession of veterinary professional associate in the field of veterinary care; and outline the minimum education and qualifications required to become a veterinary professional associate.
Proposition 130 directs the legislature to provide $350 million in additional state funding to local law enforcement agencies to be distributed by the Colorado Department of Public Safety (CDPS). Proposition 130 does not specify a time requirement for when this money must be provided. The funding must be used to:
increase annual pay for law enforcement officers;
provide one-time hiring, recruitment, and retention bonuses for law enforcement officers;
hire additional officers to address specific geographic locations or types of crime;
provide ongoing training to new and veteran officers in areas such as the use of force, restraints, and physical fitness; and
establish a one-time death benefit of $1 million for each law enforcement officer killed while on duty.
Creates new election processes for certain federal and state offices, and, in connection therewith, creating a new all-candidate primary election for U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, CU board of regents, state board of education, and the Colorado state legislature; allowing voters to vote for any one candidate per office, regardless of the voter’s or candidate’s political party affiliation; providing that the four candidates for each office who receive the most votes advance to the general election; and in the general election, allowing voters to rank candidates for each office on their ballot, adopting a process for how the ranked votes are tallied, and determining the winner to be the candidate with the highest number of votes in the final tally.
A ballot issue to the voters to allow the state to keep and spend all sports betting tax revenue in excess of the twenty-nine million dollar estimated increase in state tax revenue approved by voters in 2019 for the purpose of funding water conservation and protection projects rather than refunding such excess revenue to casinos.
The act refers a ballot issue to the voters at the November 2024 general election for approval of a 6.5% excise tax on the net taxable sales of firearm dealers, firearms manufacturers, and ammunition vendors (vendors) from the retail sale of any firearm, firearm precursor part, or ammunition in Colorado. The ballot issue allows the state to keep and spend all new excise tax revenue, as a voter-approved revenue change, and specifies that the revenue, estimated at $39 million in the first fiscal year, will be used to fund mental health services, including for military veterans and at-risk youth, school safety and gun violence prevention, and support services for victims of domestic violence and other violent crimes. If voters approve the ballot issue, then the state will have the authority to impose the excise tax and the rest of the act will become effective, except that the extension of the school security disbursement program cash fund, like the provision requiring submission of the ballot issue, is effective upon passage of the act.
Beginning on April 1, 2025, the act requires every vendor to file a return and remit the excise tax due on the vendor's net taxable sales of firearms, firearm precursor parts, or ammunition in the state on a monthly basis, except that a vendor making $20,000 or less in such retail sales in a previous calendar year is not required to pay the tax unless and until the vendor's retails sales exceed $20,000 in a calendar year. Sales to peace officers, law enforcement agencies, and active duty military personnel are exempt from the tax and, thus, not counted as part of a vendor's net taxable sales subject to the tax.
The act also imposes a registration requirement, making it unlawful for any person to engage in the business of a firearms dealer, firearms manufacturer, or an ammunition vendor in the state without first having registered as a vendor with the executive director of the department of revenue (executive director) on a form prescribed by the executive director. Making sales of firearms, firearm precursor parts, or ammunition without first registering with the executive director is a petty criminal offense and may also be punished by civil penalties. A vendor must file a separate registration for each of the vendor's places of business in the state, and all registrations must be renewed every 2 years. The executive director may revoke a vendor's registration, after reasonable notice and a hearing, upon a finding that the vendor has violated a provision of the excise tax statutory scheme, including by failing to file a return, remit the proper amount of tax, or preserve or allow inspection of specified books and records. A vendor's false or fraudulent return or statement or willful evasion of the excise tax is punishable by criminal penalties.
All money received and collected in payment of the excise tax will be deposited, first, in the firearms and ammunition excise tax cash fund (fund) created in the act and then transferred as follows:
The first $30 million in the first fiscal year and that amount as adjusted for inflation or deflation in each fiscal year thereafter to the Colorado crime victim services fund in the division of criminal justice of the department of public safety for grants to enhance or provide services for crime victims or to support crime prevention;
The next $8 million in each fiscal year to the behavioral and mental health cash fund, of which $5 million must be used by the behavioral health administration (BHA), in coordination with the division of veterans affairs, to continue and expand the veterans mental health services program, while the other $3 million must be used by the BHA to continue and expand access to behavioral health crisis response system services for children and youth; and
The next $1 million in each fiscal year to the school security disbursement program cash fund to fund the school security disbursement program.
Subject to annual appropriation by the general assembly, the department of revenue may expend money from the fund for direct and indirect costs associated with implementing and administering the excise tax. Additionally, on June 30, 2025, and June 30, 2026, the state treasurer shall transfer from the fund to the general fund an amount of money equal to the amount of money used, if any, in the state fiscal years 2024-25 and 2025-26 from the general fund to pay the costs of implementing and administering the excise tax.
The act also makes technical changes to the behavioral and mental health cash fund and related program statutes and to the administration provisions of title 39 regarding the executive director's authority to implement and administer the excise tax.
For the 2024-25 state fiscal year, $383,027 is appropriated to the department of revenue, of which $172,827 is reappropriated to the department of law for the purchase of legal services, for the implementation of the act.
