(Colorado Newsline)

The number of Coloradans in jail who voted in the 2024 election soared from previous years after a new law required county clerks to hold a day of in-person voting in every county jail.

Kyle Giddings, deputy director of the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, said data he has collected from county clerks and the secretary of state’s office show that over 2,300 people voted from jail in 2024, compared to 231 voters during the 2022 midterm elections. That includes in-person voting and those who submitted a mail ballot.

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“Across the board, everyone really stepped up to the plate and got it done,” Giddings said.

In Colorado, people in custody on pre-trial status are eligible to vote, as is anyone serving time for a misdemeanor conviction. People with felony convictions lose their right to vote only while they are serving time for that felony conviction, and they regain their right to vote once their sentence is complete.

A Colorado law passed last year requires county sheriffs to designate someone to help eligible voters in jails cast their ballots. The designee is responsible for informing confined individuals of their eligibility and coordinating with the county clerk to set up a temporary, in-person voting center at their local county jail. The law, Senate Bill 24-72, requires a designee from the clerk’s office be present to facilitate in-person voting for six hours on one day.

Voters in jail must also receive information on candidates and measures included on the ballot so they can know who and what they’re voting for.

Jefferson County Clerk Amanda Gonzalez, who is running for secretary of state in 2026, said she’s proud of the turnout her county saw during this election. In the 2022 election, before Gonzalez was clerk, three voters cast a ballot from jail, and in 2024, the county had 348 people vote from jail.

“I want to continue to see this program expand — I want to see every single eligible voter participate in our democracy — but I am really proud that we made a significant step forward toward that goal during this cycle,” Gonzalez said.

One voter in the Jefferson County jails voted for the first time and hadn’t known he was eligible, Gonzalez said. He told her staff it was “one of the top five experiences of his life and that it made him feel like he mattered.”

“Of course, every voice matters, but in particular, this is a population of people who are often told that they don’t matter, or because of a mistake that they made, that they shouldn’t have a voice,” Gonzalez said.

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The clerk’s office also coordinated with the sheriff so that staff in the jails reminded people they could be eligible to vote before the day of in-person voting to increase awareness and register voters, Gonzalez said. Jefferson County Sheriff Reggie Marinelli testified against the law when it was going through the Colorado Legislature last year, but Gonzalez said since it passed they worked together to implement it in “a very professional way.”

“We’re really grateful to the staff on her team that really went above and beyond and were great to work with,” Gonzalez said. “There are times when we disagree, and that’s OK, and once the law was passed, they were great partners.”

The Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office said in an email that bringing in the equipment staff from the clerk’s office needed to conduct in-person voting was a challenge, as well assigning additional staff to manage security and bring voters in and out. The clerk’s office had more than 20 personnel on site, which required “extensive preparation and planning” to ensure a secure environment.

Arapahoe County Elections Director Bill Mast said his county started holding in-person voting in jail in 2022, but the transition to meet the requirements of the new law went smoothly for 2024. He said they anticipated higher interest from incarcerated voters for the presidential election, so the clerk’s office held in-person voting over four days in the jail.

“We value this program. We’ve prioritized it for a number of years. We were ecstatic to see this bill go through to kind of reinforce what we were already doing in collaboration with our nonprofit sector partners, and our sheriff’s office,” Mast said. “We are just happy that all of our voters have an opportunity to get their voices heard, their ballots cast.”

Mast said 47 percent of those held in jail in Arapahoe County are residents of other counties, which meant those voters had to use a statewide ballot. Arapahoe County had 128 people vote in-person in jail, which included 60 statewide ballots.

Needs differ by county

During hearings on SB-72 before the law passed, El Paso County’s sheriff and clerk’s offices testified against the bill. Clerk and Recorder Steve Schleiker said that while he had concerns over the financial and operational impact it would have on his office, the process in November was “very successful.”

El Paso County went above and beyond the law’s requirements and held two full days of jail voting, which involved two separate in-person voting centers — one for each pod within the jail “to ensure the safety of all,” Schleiker said. Sheriffs’ deputies in one pod would escort one voter at a time, while deputies could escort four at a time in the other pod.

In total, 308 people in the roughly 1,800-person capacity jail voted in-person. Schleiker said the incarcerated voters were all kind and appreciative to have the opportunity to vote in-person, though he thought they would see a higher turnout.

“All in all, we feel it went amazingly well without much guidance from the state,” Schleiker said. “We just concentrated on making sure every eligible voter was able to sit there and cast their ballot, and also the safety of all involved.”

Giddings said he wants to find a way to improve incarcerated voters’ access to their local ballot if they are in custody in a county other than the one they are registered to vote in. In November, if someone was in jail in a county other than their own, they voted on a statewide ballot. Schleiker said this was a challenge in El Paso County as well, because with such a large jail population, many people in custody are from a different county or even another state.

Issuing statewide ballots can be complicated, according to Mast, because there is an additional process for verifying the voter’s eligibility. The ballots also have to be mailed to the voter’s home county, which “introduces risk to processes.” Mast said it would be easier if they could just count that ballot in Arapahoe County.

“We know the ballot needs to be counted in a statewide contest — (it) might as well be counted here,” Mast said. “It’s going to be quicker for results, it’s going to be quicker for the voter to know their ballot was counted, and it’s much simpler for us.”

Developing a clear process and guidelines for bringing people in and out of the voting areas in jails could also be helpful for certain counties, Giddings said.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, said in a statement that her office looks forward to building on the first year of the jail-based voting program for future elections.

Gayle Perez, a spokesperson for the Pueblo County Sheriff’s Office, said the office handed out voter registration forms to anyone in custody who wanted one, and they were returned to the Pueblo County Clerk’s Office. Those in custody also received literature on voting guidelines from the clerk’s office prior to voting.

A sergeant brought ballots to the jail, and deputies brought ballots to incarcerated individuals who were registered to vote. A bipartisan team from the clerk’s office came to pick up ballots and process them.

Perez said for Pueblo’s day of in-person voting, the county clerk proctored voting through kiosks, which were connected to the internet for voting. Pueblo County had nine people vote during the in-person voting event, and 40 people voted with mail ballots outside of in-person voting.

“Inmates who were not sent a ballot were able to vote in-person,” Perez said in a statement. “All inmates who voted were given privacy during their voting time. The process and voting went well.”

Low jail capacity, low turnout

About 26 counties had nobody cast a ballot from jail, but 17 of those counties don’t have their own jail. Giddings said he isn’t concerned that anything went wrong in counties with no turnout, though, because of how small their jail capacities are. For example, the Crowley County jail only has a 14-person capacity, and it’s possible nobody was in the jail the day the county held in-person voting.

In Elbert County, Clerk and Recorder Rhonda Braun said everyone in custody chose to vote with a mail ballot, though in-person voting was still offered.

“Our Sheriff’s office was incredibly helpful and we worked together to make sure that every eligible incarcerated voter was able to vote,” Braun said in an email.

Gilpin County Clerk and Recorder Sahari McCormick said her office has always brought ballots to the county jail for incarcerated voters, but November was the first time they had an in-person voting center. She said the jail had about 32 people in custody when they held in-person voting, and about 13 people chose to vote.

“The Sheriff’s and Detentions Departments were incredibly helpful and the whole process went smoothly,” McCormick said in an email.

Though Summit County also did not have anyone from jail vote in-person, Chief Deputy Clerk Stephanie Szmutko said setting up in-person voting “went seamlessly” while working with the sheriff’s office. She said a few people in jail voted by mail.

“They welcomed us into their space and were very helpful with figuring out the logistics of what would work best for our department and for theirs,” Szmutko said in an email.

Montrose County Clerk Tressa Guynes said their county jail only had two people confined who were eligible to vote, and the clerk’s office still had two election judges on site for six hours.

“The coordination and communication with the Montrose County jail staff and as distributed through the facility has always allowed for a smooth and secure process,” Guynes said in an email. “This includes checking roles and voter registration records to ensure those eligible are identified and receive appropriate communication and opportunity prior to and on election day, even if they choose not to participate.”

Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: info@coloradonewsline.com.