Election Day is underway in Colorado. Polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., and ballots placed in a drop box or turned in at a polling place by 7 p.m. will be counted.
Voters will decide, among other races, the governor and U.S. Senate seats, as well as eight seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and dozens of seats in the state legislature. In the Senate race, John Hickenlooper and Mark Baisley are competing for votes, while Phil Weiser and Victor Marx are running for governor. The ballot also includes 14 statewide ballot questions and Ballot Issue 7A, a proposal to raise the sales tax in Front Range communities to expand passenger rail service.
It is now too late to mail in a ballot. A completed ballot must be returned to a drop box or a polling place. Voters who lost or damaged their ballot, or who prefer to vote in person, can do so at a polling place. If voters are still in line at 7 p.m., they may cast their ballots after that time.
Colorado allows same-day voter registration, so people can vote without having registered in advance, up until polling places close. Voters can check the location of a drop box or polling place, as well as their registration status, on the websites listed by the Colorado Sun.
Voters casting a ballot in person must show identification, such as a driver’s license or a U.S. passport. In other cases, ID is usually not required. An exception applies to people who recently registered and are returning a mailed ballot. They may have to include proof of identity, and a letter from the county clerk’s office enclosed with the ballot will say so. Voters can track the status of their ballot through BallotTrax, which sends an email or text message once the ballot has been accepted.
The first results will appear shortly after 7 p.m. The Colorado Sun is running a continuously updated tally, and local results are published on the websites of individual county clerks. Statewide results are available on the Secretary of State’s website. Counting may take longer because a large number of last-minute ballots is expected. Most counties report results until around midnight and count the remaining ballots on Wednesday. In close races, it may take several days to determine a winner.
Source: Colorado Sun, CPR News
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