It’s Election Day. Coloradans have until 7 p.m. to vote in key primary races.
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Voters have until 7 p.m. today to submit their ballots in Colorado’s high-stakes 2026 primary election.
After major progressive victories last week in New York, like-minded candidates in Colorado hope that momentum will boost their campaigns to unseat some of Colorado’s most senior Democrats, including U.S. Senator John Hickenlooper and U.S. Representative Diana DeGette.
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Voters will pick their party’s nominees for Colorado’s top statewide offices, which with a term-limited governor, secretary of state and attorney general all have open seats.
In the Democratic primary for governor, Phil Weiser, Colorado’s attorney general, hopes anti-Washington sentiment among some Democratic voters will send him to victory over Michael Bennet, who has been a U.S. senator since 2009.
Victor Marx, a first-time candidate for governor with massive financial backing who declined to answer a question about how many people he’s killed, could possibly take the Republican nomination over Barb Kirkmeyer, an establishment state senator with years of political experience.
Four Democrats and two Republicans are vying for their party’s nomination to be Colorado’s next attorney general. In the primaries for secretary of state, two Democrats are running head-to-head.
Democrats will have an advantage in statewide Colorado races in November. Republicans have not won a statewide race in Colorado since 2016.
How to vote
Ballots received in the mail can be returned in a secure ballot drop box or at a voter service and polling center. It is too late to return a ballot through the mail. Voters who did not receive a ballot in the mail can still vote by visiting an in-person polling center before 7 p.m.
Colorado has same-day voter registration, meaning that any eligible voter can visit one of the state’s 137 voter service centers at any time before 7 p.m. on Election Day to register and cast their ballot. Voters can look up their registration status and see the locations of voting centers and drop boxes at GoVoteColorado.gov.
A voter who is in line at a voting center after 7 p.m. on Election Day will still be able to vote so long as they were in line by that time.
Voters who speak languages other than English can access state-provided translation services depending on the county they live in. Voters who need interpretation services can call the secretary of state’s office at 303-860-6970. Spanish language ballot materials are also available to voters in certain Colorado counties.
Voters don’t need to vote in every race included on their ballot. Whichever items they vote on will be counted.
BallotTrax allows Colorado voters to track their ballot from the time it is mailed to them until it is counted.
What’s on the ballot
Colorado has contested primaries for one U.S. Senate seat, multiple U.S. House seats, governor, attorney general, secretary of state, and multiple Colorado Legislature seats.
Read Colorado Newsline’s Q&A surveys from candidates. Newsline’s voter guide includes information on contested primary elections.
Whoever wins the primary election in each race will advance to the November general election to face candidates from opposing political parties.
Ballot curing
If voting with a mail ballot, voters must sign their ballot envelope for verification by bipartisan teams of election judges.
Election judges compare a ballot signature to a signature the voter’s county clerk has on file from official documents. If someone registered to vote through the Colorado Division of Motor Vehicles, for example, their ballot signature will be compared to their license signature.
If a voter’s ballot is flagged for a discrepancy, they can “cure” their ballot by verifying their signature through the secretary of state’s website.
Voters will receive a letter in the mail from their county clerk notifying them if their ballot is rejected and what they need to do to resolve the problem. Voters with signature discrepancies have until 11:59 p.m. on the eighth day after Election Day to cure their ballots; for the 2026 primary, that date is July 8.
As of June 1, Colorado has just over 4 million active registered voters. Slightly more than 50% of those voters are unaffiliated. More than 780,000 Coloradans submitted their primary ballots as of Monday afternoon.
If voting in person, a voter needs to present a valid form of identification. Acceptable forms of identification include:
- A valid Colorado driver’s license or ID card
- A valid U.S. passport
- A valid government issued employee identification card with a photograph
- A valid pilot’s license issued by an authorized U.S. agency
- A valid military identification card with a photograph
- A copy of a utility bill, bank statement, government check, paycheck, or other government document that shows name and address dated within the prior 60 days
- A certificate of degree of Indian or Alaskan Native blood
- A valid Medicare or Medicaid card
- A certified copy of a U.S. birth certificate
- Certified documentation of naturalization
- A valid student identification card with a photograph from a Colorado institution of higher education
- A valid veteran identification card with a photograph
- A valid identification card issued by a federally recognized tribal government
