The 2026 midterm elections have arrived in Colorado, with county clerks on Friday.
Voters will soon weigh in on races for Colorado governor, Congress and a suite of statewide ballot measures, in addition to many other state and local elections.
Election Day is Nov. 3, and registered voters will receive their ballots in the mail in the coming days, with all initial ballots being sent by Oct. 9.
Key things to know
If you don’t receive a ballot in the mail, you may need to update your voter information or register to vote in Colorado, which you can do . To register to vote, you’ll need to provide ID such as your Colorado driver’s license number, the last four digits of your Social Security number, or another valid form of identification.
Ballots will be mailed to voters who register up until Oct. 26.
That is also the last day that the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office recommends returning your ballot by mail to ensure it is counted.
Ballots that do not arrive at a clerk’s office before 7 p.m. on Nov. 3 will not be counted, regardless of when the ballot was postmarked, with the exception of military and overseas voters. Those voters must put their ballots in the mail no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day.
If you register to vote and receive your ballot after Oct. 26, you can return the ballot at a 24-hour drop box or an in-person voting center through Election Day. Drop boxes began opening Friday. The secretary of state’s office says 452 drop boxes will be open across the state by Oct. 12, and 384 voting centers will open on Oct. 19.
Late voting options
Colorado also offers same-day registration and voting at voting centers before polls close on Election Day. Voters must either have returned their ballots or be in line to vote before 7 p.m. on Nov. 3.
Once you return it, you can track the status of your ballot using the state’s online system.
What’s on the ballot?
All state executive offices are up for grabs this election because of term limits — governor, attorney general, secretary of state, and treasurer. Voters will also determine the balance of power in the state legislature, with elections for all 65 state House seats and 21 of the 35 state Senate seats.
Voters will see 14 statewide ballot measures this year — 13 of which are citizen-led — that will ask questions on taxes, criminal penalties, immigration enforcement, transgender rights, voting requirements, and enshrining the rights to natural gas and hunting and fishing in the state constitution.
The November election will also decide control of Congress. All eight of Colorado’s U.S. House seats are being contested, as is one of its U.S. Senate seats. All of that is in addition to local races, such as county commissioners and sheriffs, plus community-specific ballot questions for voters across the state.
Ballots are coming slightly early
Voters will receive ballots earlier this year compared to past elections. The state legislature this year that requires clerks to begin mailing ballots 29 days before Election Day, up from 22, and to finish sending ballots no later than 25 days before the election, up from 18.
Lawmakers said they wanted a longer timeline in case of delays or disruptions to mail ballots caused by the Trump administration, which had pushed to restrict mail voting for the midterms.
That effort, spelled out in an executive order by President Donald Trump, was blocked last month by the U.S. Supreme Court.
Correction (updated Oct. 2, 2026): Because of a reporter's error, the original version of this story misstated when drop boxes and voting centers will be open. Drop boxes began opening Oct. 2, with hundreds set to be open by Oct. 12, and a minimum number of voting centers are set to be open by Oct. 19.
