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Colorado’s voter turnout sees highest jump since early voting opened

By November 1, 2022 | updated 3 years ago

062922-dg-news-BallotCounting04.JPG
An election judge works the sorting machine as boxes of ballots go through an initial sort at the Denver Elections Division on Bannock Street on Tuesday, June 28, 2022, in Denver, Colo. (Timothy Hurst/The Denver Gazette)
Timothy Hurst

Nearly 743,000 Colorado voters have returned their ballots for the November election, according to Tuesday data — an increase of more than 200,000 in only 24 hours.

This is the biggest daily jump in voter turnout since early voting officially kicked off last Monday. An average of 90,300 ballots were returned every day from Tuesday through Friday last week, and only 94,800 ballots were returned over all of Halloween weekend, according to data from the Secretary of State’s Office.

The 742,935 ballots returned so far represent a 19.5% turnout of the over 3.8 million active registered voters in Colorado with only one week left until Election Day.

While Tuesday’s voting gains are impressive, early voter turnout is still below previous years. At this point during the 2020 election, nearly 1.8 million ballots had been returned, according to data from the Secretary of State’s Office. While presidential elections typically yield higher voter turnout, at this time during the 2018 midterm election, more than 792,000 ballots were returned.

The party-split among early voters has remained stable, with unaffiliated voters still leading the early turnout. More than 272,000 of the ballots turned in so far came from unaffiliated voters, making up 36.7% of the total. Democrats were in second place with 33.1% of returned ballots, followed by Republicans with 29.2%.

Nearly 99.5% of ballots cast were mailed in, with only 3,946 people voting in person.

Older voters are still dominating the early turnout but have fallen slightly. Voters aged 65 and over have returned 46.95% of Colorado’s ballots — a strong plurality but the first time it’s dipped under 50% since early voting began. Voters aged 45 to 64 have returned 32.95% of ballots and voters younger than 45 have returned 20.1% of ballots.

Jefferson County voters continue to make up the biggest chunk of early voters, submitting nearly 93,000 ballots so far. Rounding out the top five: El Paso, Arapahoe, Denver and Douglas counties, with returned ballots ranging from 84,552 to 57,160.

Inflation, water, energy are all big issues – but what rural Coloradans most want is to be heard

The Secretary of State’s Office is expected to release updates on the returned ballots every weekday through Election Day on Nov. 8.

Ballots were mailed to registered Colorado voters two weeks ago. Early voting officially kicked off last Monday with the opening of 411 drop boxes and 121 voting centers throughout the state.

Voters can find their closest drop box or voting center and the hours of operation at GoVoteColorado.gov. By Election Day, there will be over 350 voting centers available to submit ballots, in addition to the 411 drop boxes currently open.

The ballot for the general election includes 11 statewide ballot measures, as well as more than 150 state and local races, plus local ballot initiatives in some counties.

The voter registration deadline to receive a ballot in the mail ended on Monday; however, Coloradans can still register to vote online at GoVoteColorado.gov and then vote in person until 7 p.m. on Election Day. In-person voting will be available from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day.

RTD is offering free rides in its service area to allow voters to drop off ballots at ballot boxes or vote in person on Election Day.

Election judges removed by GOP county chairwoman now calling for appeals process

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