Coloradans planning to send their ballots by mail were advised to send them by Monday, according to a news release Monday from Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold.
Griswold recommended voters who did not have their ballots in the mail by Monday should instead drop them off directly at an official ballot drop box or at an early voting center. In Colorado, ballots must be received by 7 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 3, which is also the last day for in-person voting.
“(Monday) is the last day to return a voted ballot by mail,” Griswold said in the release. “After (Monday), voters should return their ballot to one of the hundreds of drop boxes or voting centers across the state.”
Colorado has sent all registered voters a ballot. This year, there are a number of high-profile races for which Coloradans will be casting votes. Colorado’s U.S. Sen. Cory Gardner is up for re-election, running against former Gov. John Hickenlooper. La Plata County and the rest of the state’s 3rd Congressional District also will be choosing between business owner Lauren Boebert and former state Rep. Diane Mitsch Bush to succeed Rep. Scott Tipton in Washington.
Colorado and the rest of the nation will also be electing a president. President Donald Trump is running for re-election against former Vice President Joe Biden in what is expected to be a high-turnout race.
This will be the state’s third Senate election and second presidential election since the state passed the Voter Access and Modernized Elections Act of 2013.
With just over a week to go until the final votes are cast, Colorado is one of many states that has already experienced more than half of its total 2016 ballot count returned in early ballots.
According to the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, as of the end of the day Sunday, Coloradans had returned 1,617,955 ballots. That includes both ballots sent by mail and turned in at in-person early voting centers. In the 2016 general election, a total of 2,855,960 ballots were counted in Colorado.
So far this year, La Plata County has recorded 18,710 ballots and Montezuma County has recorded 8,582. Griswold’s office reports that in 2016, La Plata County counted a total 32,012 ballots and Montezuma County counted a total of 13,189 ballots.
The number of mail-in and early ballots cast nationwide is expected to be particularly high this year as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic complicating in-person voting on Election Day.
“Coloradans have been making their voices heard this election with high turnout during early voting,” Griswold said in the release. “I hope this enthusiasm will help our state lead the nation in voter turnout this election.”
La Plata County election officials are running a number of mail-in ballot drop box locations as well as a number of early in-person voting centers, which also accept mail ballots.
John Purcell is an intern for The Durango Herald and The Journal in Cortez and a student at American University in Washington, D.C.
Election 2020: How to vote
Ballots were mailed to voters Oct. 9 in La Plata County, and voters should go to the Clerk and Recorder’s Office to get a replacement ballot if they have not received their mail-in ballot.
La Plata County Clerk and Recorder Tiffany Parker said voters who return their ballots by mail should mail them before Oct. 26 to ensure the U.S. Postal Service delivers them to her office by 7 p.m. Nov. 3, the deadline for receipt of ballots.
After Oct. 26, voters should drop off ballots at one of five drop-off boxes across the county:
Clerk and Recorder’s Office, 679 Turner Drive, Durango.
Bayfield Town Hall, 1199 Bayfield Parkway, Bayfield.
La Plata County Administration Building, 1101 East Second Ave., Durango.
Fort Lewis College Community Concert Hall, 1000 Rim Drive, Durango.
Farmers Fresh Market, 535 Goddard Ave., Ignacio.
For those who prefer to cast their ballots in person, a Voter Service Polling Center is set up at the clerk’s office, and beginning Oct. 26, one will be available at Bayfield Town Hall.
Also, three Voter Service Polling Centers will open Nov. 2 and on Election Day, Nov. 3, at the Community Concert Hall at Fort Lewis College; the Southern Ute Cultural Center and Museum, 503 Ouray Drive in Ignacio; and La Plata County Fairgrounds, 2500 Main Ave. in Durango.
Herald Staff
