DENVER — Colorado voters will be faced with big ballots this year, due in large part to more than a dozen statewide measures, and election officials are warning it may take longer to finalize the Nov. results.
“Fast results are wonderful. Accurate results are essential," said Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Amanda Gonzalez, who is also the Democratic candidate vying to become Colorado's next Secretary of State. “Every single county throughout Colorado is going to make sure that they are doing the meticulous work of making sure that your ballot is accurately counted, and when we have more pages, longer ballots, it does mean that that might take a little bit longer.”
Gonzalez recommended Coloradans consider voting early.
"There are a lot of decisions for voters to make this year, and so we are encouraging people to give themselves time," Gonzalez said.
The ballot was certified on Sept. 9. There are 14 statewide measures, in addition to the Front Range Passenger Rail measure that will appear on voters' ballots who live in that special district.
Tuesday marked National Voter Registration Day, and representatives from New Era Colorado were on six college campuses throughout the state helping students register to vote.
"I think one of the greatest things about voting in Colorado is that you can have your ballot with you at home and use all of the resources that you have to really make informed decisions," said the Executive Director of New Era Colorado, Christina Soliz. “We talk about the Blue Book a lot. It's an incredible tool that gets mailed out to us before our ballots get sent. That just really breaks things down in such a tangible way. But it can be overwhelming because — that's going to be — she's going to be thick this year.”
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Those with the Denver Clerk and Recorder's Office say their two-card, four page ballot is "generally considered a long ballot." It will be right around 17 inches long.
A spokesperson with Arapahoe County confirmed to Denver7 their two-card ballot is 18 inches long.
Most Douglas County voters will receive a single, 20-inch ballot printed on the front and back of the paper, according to a representative of the Douglas County Clerk and Recorder. Some of the voters in the county will fill out a two-page ballot, due to contests and district measures that apply to their residential addresses.
In Jefferson County, Gonzalez said this year is the first time in nearly a decade voters will receive a ballot that is more than just one page, front and back.
"Longer ballots aren't a problem, but they do take longer. They take longer for voters to fill out, and they also take longer for election offices to process," Gonzalez said. "I know that everybody gets really excited about having as much of the results as they possibly can on election night, but those results are never official, and so voters need to know that just because it's taking a little longer doesn't mean there's anything wrong. It just means that our election judges are doing the careful work of making sure that we are accurately counting every single ballot.”
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A freshman at Metropolitan State University, Goofy Cunningham, told Denver7 they are excited to begin researching the issues they will vote upon in Nov.
"I feel like I have the time and I have the ability to set aside the time to really understand everything that I'm voting for," Cunningham said. "I think we should always be engaged. I think that we have always been engaged. We've just become disillusioned with our own ability to make a change.”
Oct. 2 is the first day ballots can be mailed out in Colorado, with Oct. 9 as the deadline for initial mailing.
The 2026 General Election is on Nov. 3.
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