Election Day 2016 is nearly here after what seems like the longest campaign season in history.
While the presidential election has dominated the news for more than a year, Coloradans will be voting for a Senator, Representatives, a huge swath of the state legislature that could change the balance of power and ballot issues ranging from universal healthcare and a minimum wage hike statewide to how marijuana can be consumed in the city of Denver and much, much more.
Get registered to vote
The rest of this guide doesn’t matter if you’re not registered to vote. means that ballots are in the mail starting Oct. 17, but if you’re not registered it’s not too late. , but here are the key points:
- .
- If you aren’t registered or your registration is not up to date, for instructions on how to vote in person.
- You can register to vote in-person at a voter service and polling center
Check out your ballot
Your county has a sample ballot ready to view up on its website already (here are the , , , , , , , and County ballots, for example). In addition, the state of Colorado’s Blue Book .
To get a little insight into the people and issues on your ballot, here are the candidate and issue profiles written by The Denver Post’s politics team:
Major Races
Senate:
Sixth Congressional District Representative
Judges on the Colorado ballot:
2016 Colorado Ballot Measures
Prefer to listen to your analysis? Check out , which includes debates over each of the key ballot measures.
Want to see just the issues that affect school districts around the state? Chalkbeat Colorado has a .
Interactive ballot
Another tool to explore your ballot is a new service from a startup called , from the National Science Foundation, the Knight Foundation and the University of Chicago Institute of Politics.
To use it, just go to , plug in your street address and it will show you a grid of what you’re voting on, complete with short summaries of every candidate and issue.
Endorsements
Last, but certainly not least, is the . (But first: “” is a great way to start if you’re fuzzy on the concept of endorsements.)
The Editorial Board , but here’s a cheat sheet.
- President:
- Բٱ:
- 3rd Congressional District:
- 6th Congressional District:
- Amendment 69, ColoradoCare:
- Amendment 70, Minimum wage increase:
- Amendment 71, Petition standards:
- Amendment 72, Tobacco tax increase:
- Amendments T and U, Constitutional clean-up: .
- Proposition 106, Medical aid in dying:
- Propositions 107 and 108, Presidential and open primaries: .
- Issue 4B, Scientific and Cultural Facilities District renewal:
