Colorado suggests mailing ballots no later than Monday as early voting swells ahead of Nov. 3 midterm 

Election Day is just around the corner, and already voter turnout has been outpacing Colorado’s last midterm in 2022 as important election deadlines approach. 

Monday, Oct. 26, is the last day voters should return their ballots via mail, according to the Secretary of State’s recommendation. It is also the last day eligible Coloradans can register to vote and receive their ballot in their mailbox. 

Any ballots completed after Monday should be submitted in person to a drop box or county clerk’s office. 

Mail-in ballots can be returned in person up until 7 p.m. on Election Day. Individuals can also register to vote and cast their ballots in person up until that same deadline. 

As of Oct. 22, around 661,879 Coloradans have already returned their ballots, representing around 16% of all registered voters in the state, according to the daily reports filed by the Secretary of State. 

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Counties in the state’s northwest corner have largely matched this early turnout: 21% of Grand County registered voters had returned their ballots by Oct. 22, 18% of registered voters in Routt and Pitkin counties, 17% of registered Summit County voters, 16% of registered voters in Garfield County, 14% of Eagle County registered voters and 12% of Moffat County registered voters.

While unaffiliated voters make up the majority of those registered in Colorado — comprising just over 50% — Democrats are voting at the highest rates so far in the midterm. By Oct. 22, 22% of registered Democrats statewide had returned ballots, compared to 18% of registered Republicans and 13% of unaffiliated voters.

This represents a 5 percentage-point increase from turnout 11 days ahead of the last midterm election in 2022. It is still, however, 6 percentage points lower than the early turnout 11 days prior to the 2024 presidential election. 

The vast majority of the ballots cast so far in 2026 have been mailed ballots, with in-person voting representing fewer than 1% of the votes cast statewide as of Oct. 22. This is typical of Colorado, with 92% of all ballots cast in the 2024 general election being mailed ballots returned either via the postal service or to drop boxes.

Postal Service shares election security measures

While a few counties have reported delays in receiving ballots — around 200 Grand County residents reported not yet receiving their ballots by Oct. 21 — this delay has been called “unusual” by local officials, and the U.S. Postal Service has issued a news release promising “business as usual” in maintaining election security and reliability. 

“In this election cycle, and every election cycle, the Postal Inspection Service is committed to ensuring the safe and secure delivery of election mail, the integrity of our elections and the protection of election officials and election offices from threatening and dangerous mail,” said Brendan Donahue, the organization’s deputy chief inspector, in the release. “With more than 170 million delivery points nationwide, upholding the security of election mail, and all mail, is a team effort.”

The assurance from the federal agency comes a month after the Supreme Court blocked President Donald Trump’s attempt to impose new requirements for the Postal Service around mail ballots. The decision halted the new rules from being enforced during the 2026 midterm elections, allowing elections to proceed under state law.  

The Postal Service reported that through Oct. 9 — Colorado ballots were mailed by county clerks between Oct. 2 and Oct. 9 — 97.98% of ballot mail was delivered on time, in line with its typical delivery standards. 

Through BallotTrax, Coloradans can sign up to track their ballot, receiving notifications at every step of its journey, from when it is mailed to when it is counted. 

Starting Oct. 24, the U.S. Postal Service said it will start to roll out what it calls “extraordinary measures” to ensure this efficiency continues through Election Day. These measures include:

• Extra deliveries and collections, 
• Special pick-ups, 
• Specialized sort plans at processing facilities to expedite delivery to boards of elections and
• Localized handling and transportation of ballots.

The Postal Service reported that it has not changed its postmarking practices, “but that adjustments to transportation operations” — made to reportedly eliminate inefficiencies —  could “result in some mailpieces not arriving at originating processing facilities on the same day that they are mailed.” 

Postal Service retail locations can apply manual postmarks for voters who want to ensure their completed ballot envelope receives a postmark with the date it was mailed.

According to the release, the Postal Service meets regularly with local, state and federal election officials; postal unions and management associations; federal agencies and Congress; the mailing industry; and non-governmental organizations to understand plans, advise on effective mailing practices, address local issues that arise and more. 

It added that it also works with the U.S. Departments of Justice and Homeland Security, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the FBI, the USPS Office of Inspector General and state and local law enforcement to secure mail for elections. 

Colorado election officials promise election security 

In a separate news release, Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who is the Democratic candidate for Attorney General in the November election, reminded voters that “every eligible Colorado voter has the right to cast a ballot free from intimidation or interference.” 

The Secretary of State’s Office added that not only do Colorado voters, election officials and election workers have legally protected rights, but the safety and security of elections in the state are bolstered by measures taken at drop boxes, which are under 24/7 video surveillance, and within county clerks’ offices. 

Jenny Thomas, Routt County clerk and recorder and the vice president of the Colorado County Clerks Association board, in a Sept. 10 interview said that “across the state, clerks are always contingency planning; that’s just good election administration.” 

“There’s a million things that could impact an election, and it could be anything from the mail to floods and fires or a power outage, anything like that,” Thomas said. “So we’re just constantly trying to think of ways to be prepared for whatever this world is gonna throw at us so that we can continue and serve our voters.”

This contingency planning is all centered around ensuring “elections can proceed in a safe, secure and convenient manner for all of our voters,” she added. 

“We have a lot of processes and procedures in place, a lot of checks and balances to secure the vote,” Thomas said. “So all of our ballot handling, when we’re working with our election judges, anytime we’re handling those ballots, those voted ballots, even the ballots before they’re issued, everything’s under camera, everything’s done in teams of bipartisan judges.” 

Election Day is Nov. 3. To register to vote or check voter registration status, visit GoVoteColorado.gov.