Voting laws in Colorado
From Ballotpedia
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The following are elections laws pertaining to voters in the State of Colorado need to know before going to the polls.
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Polling Place Hours
In Colorado the polls are open from 7 AM to 7 PM Mountain Time. If you are in line by the time the polls close, you will be given a chance to vote.
Requirements to Register
In Colorado a Voter must:
- A U.S. Citizen
- 18 years of age on or before the date of the election
- A resident of Colorado and at your present address at least 30 days before the election
Note: Residency for the purpose of voting means the principal or primary home of a person. Colorado voters must have a residence in order to register to vote.
Registration Deadlines
In-Person and By Mail
A Colorado voter must register (29) twenty-nine days before the election in order to vote for the election.
Absentee Balloting
Absentee ballots may be obtained in person at the county clerk's office until close of business on the Friday preceding Election Day. Absentee Ballots will be mailed approximately 30 days prior to Election Day or thereafter within 3 days of the county clerk receiving a request for an absentee ballot. In order for the absentee ballot to be counted it must be returned to the county clerk's office by 7:00pm on Election Day.
Early Voting
Provisional Balloting
Provisional voting guarantees every qualified and registered voter in Colorado has the opportunity to vote on Election Day. The voter arrives at the polling place on Election Day, the election judges check the poll book (a list of all of the jurisdiction's registered voters), to confirm that the voter is properly registered and are at the correct polling place. Prior to provisional voting, if a person's name was not in the poll book, they were not allowed to vote. With provisional voting, a voter whose name is not found in the poll book on Election Day is given a provisional ballot. Provisional ballots are distinguished from regular ballots so that the election authority can later investigate the provisional voter's registration status.
ID Needed at the Polls
When voting in person the voter will need one of the following types of identification:
- A valid Colorado driver's license
- A valid identification card issued by the Colorado department of revenue
- A valid U.S. passport
- A valid employee identification card with a photograph of the eligible elector issued by any branch, department, agency, or entity of the U.S. government or Colorado, or by any Colorado county, municipality, board, authority, or other political subdivision of this state
- A valid pilot's license issued by the Federal Aviation Administration or other authorized agency of the United States
- A valid U.S. military identification card with photograph of the elector
- A copy of a current utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows the name and address of the elector. A cable bill, a telephone bill, documentation from a public institution of higher education in Colorado containing at least the name, date of birth, and residence address of the student elector, or a paycheck from a government institution are also sufficient forms of identification
- A valid Medicare or Medicaid card
- A certified copy of a U.S. birth certificate
- Certified documentation of naturalization
A Social Security number (or last four digits) is NOT a legal form of identification for voting in person in Colorado.
Restoral of Civil Rights
In Colorado, even a convicted felon after serving his sentence in prison has his or her civil rights automatically restored when even they are on probation or parole. A person must have their release documents to bring along to the polls when registering.
Voting Equipment Used in Colorado
The voting machine systems used in Colorado are optical scan, DRE and hand-counted paper ballots.
Optical Scan
With this system, the voter will receive a card or sheet of paper, which the voter will take over to a private table or booth. The card has the names of the various candidates and ballot measures printed on it. With a pen or pencil you fill in a little box or circle or the space between two arrows. When the voter is finished filling out all the cards, the voter may bring the cards over to a ballot box, where poll workers will show the voter how to put the cards in the box or in some places, the voter may feed the completed cards or papers into a computer device that checks the voter's card or paper right there at the polling place to make sure the voter has voted the way they want to and counts the votes.
Direct Recording Electronic (DRE)
This is the newest kind of system in use in the U.S. All the information about who and what the voter is voting for is on an electronic screen like a TV or computer screen.
There are many variations of DREs because lots of companies are inventing new ones, and many cities, counties and states are trying them out. Usually, after the voter has signed in, the poll workers will give the voter a card that the voter slides into a device to start a voting session.
Some of these devices will show all of the candidates and ballot choices on one big screen. Often, with these big screen devices the voter pushes a button next to the name of the candidate the voter wants to vote for (or yes or no on a ballot measure). On other DREs, the screen is set up to show “pages.” On each screen or page, there will probably be one thing to vote on. For example, on one screen or page, you might vote for president. Then you might move to the next page to vote for senator. Often these small-screen devices have a “touch screen,” where the voter touches the screen next to the name of the person the voter wants to vote for. Other devices have a key pad and some have a keyboard, so you can write in the name of someone you want to vote for.
The voter lets the system know you are finished voting by pushing a button, touching the screen or entering something on a keypad.
Paper Ballots
Paper ballots are one of the oldest ways of voting in America. They are still used in a few places on Election Day. When you come to the polling place, you will get a paper ballot from the poll worker. You take it to the voting booth, and use a pen or pencil to mark a box next to your candidate and issue choices. You then drop the marked ballot into a sealed ballot box.
References
Information provided by the Colorado Elections Agency and the League of Women Voters
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