This morning, a two-week window of early voting opens across Colorado in advance of the Nov. 7 general election.
Election officials believe that at least half of Colorado votes will be cast before the official Election Day, either by absentee ballot or at early-voting centers.
The locations are usually familiar sites – government office buildings, for example, or police stations, schoolhouses and recreation centers. Many Coloradans, facing a lengthy ballot, will want to take advantage of shorter lines at the early-voting locations.
In Denver, vote centers are new this year, but those who voted in the August primary will know where to go. (The sites are listed on county websites and on mailers.) Denver will hold early voting at the Wellington Webb building from today to Nov. 3, excluding Sunday, Oct. 29. On Saturday, Oct. 28, Denver will open five more centers, spread across town.
Denver vote centers will be open from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Centers in many other counties open earlier, so voters should check with county election offices for times. Voters – whether early or on Nov. 7 – must present a state driver’s license, an I.D. card issued by the Department of Revenue or other valid identification.
This year’s ballot is the longest in memory. Voters need to be patient but not intimidated. This election will decide who will govern our state for the next four years, who will represent Colorado in Congress and who will sit on our courts.
Candidates for Congress, governor and other statewide offices are listed first on the ballot, followed by the legislature, judges and 14 statewide ballot measures. In some areas, Denver among them, there also are local measures. Many school districts also have financial proposals on the ballot.
Voters should consider studying the races ahead of time and taking a marked sample ballot with them into the booth.
Electronic touch-screen machines will be new to some voters this election. They’re easy to use: Select each candidate and issue and then press the “cast vote” button on the screen. Before leaving, check the paper receipt to make sure it matches the votes you just cast. (You cannot take the receipt with you. It will be used in the event of a recount or an audit.)
Traditionalists, procrastinators and “undecided” voters still can vote from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 7. That allows them to drink deep from Colorado’s barrage of TV attack ads to the bitter end.
Denver early voting is offered at:
Webb Municipal Office Building, 201 W. Colfax Ave.
Athmar Recreation Center, 2680 W. Mexico Ave.
Scheitler Recreation Center, 5031 W. 46th Ave.
Montbello Recreation Center, 15555 E. 53rd Ave.
Montclair Recreation Center, 729 Ulster Way
District 3 Police Station, 1625 S. University Blvd.
