With four days to go until Election Day, Colorado is seeing a decrease in early voting numbers compared to 2020, despite trends to the contrary across the country.
So far, the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office is reporting that 1,731,171 ballots have been returned as of 11:59 p.m. Thursday. However, that number was above 2 million four years ago.
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Numbers are down in Colorado across both Republicans and Democrats, as well as the state’s largest voter base: unaffiliated voters.
Through Thursday night, 713,675 unaffiliated ballots were returned, representing 41.22% of all ballots so far. Democrats have returned 512,662 ballots, representing 29.61% and Republicans have returned 480,125 ballots representing 27.73%.
Jefferson County has returned the most ballots so far, followed by El Paso, Arapahoe, Denver and Douglas counties. These are five of the state’s most populous counties, but Jefferson ranks fourth in overall population according to recent data.
The unaffiliated ballots are down by 112,528, while Democrats are down 276,933 compared to four years ago. Republicans are down 154,714.
Experts told Denver7 Investigates via phone calls that the state’s reputation as a solid blue state that favors the Democratic party can minimize incentive for people to get out and vote compared to when the state was considered a purple and "in play" state.
Also, this year’s ballot is lengthy and can be intimidating to voters.
Ballots returned by county (Top 5):
- Jefferson - 210,950
- El Paso - 206,729
- Arapahoe - 168,997
- Denver - 167,830
- Douglas - 143,449
For more data, visit theSecretary of State’s website.
The city of Denver has a helpful map to direct registered Colorado voters to their nearest drop-off box, in-person vote centers, and mobile vote centers. You can find any one of those spots closest to you by clicking here.
If you’re outside of Denver, the Colorado Secretary of State's website has a ballot drop-off locator you can access here.
Remember, it is now too late to mail in your ballot.
