(The Center Square) – Active registered voters in Colorado will be receiving a ballot from their county clerks for the June 25 state primary election and for the vacancy in the 4th Congressional District.
The deadline for county clerks to mail ballots to active voters is Friday, June 7, for the state primary and the congressional vacancy. The deadline for registering to vote or updating voter registration before this election is June 17 to receive a ballot by mail. Coloradans can still register to vote and vote in person at a voting center until 7 p.m. on Tuesday, June 25.
“Ballots are arriving to your mailbox soon,” Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold said in a statement. “There is still time to register to vote if you have not already, and I encourage every eligible Coloradan to do so.”
Last week, Griswold announced allocation of $1.5 million in federal funds to pay for Sunday voting, improve pay for election judges and promoting tribal voting.
The vacancy election in the 4th Congressional District is the result of Republican Ken Buck’s resignation from the U.S. House of Representatives. He announced he wouldn’t seek reelection last year and then announced on March 12 he would resign on March 22. The next day, Colorado Democratic Gov. Jared Polis issued an executive order for a vacancy election to be held on June 25, the date already set by statute for the 2024 state primary.
The candidates for the vacancy election are Frank Atwood, Approval Voting Party, Trisha Eloise Calvarese, Democratic Party, Hannah Goodman, Libertarian Party, and Greg Lopez, Republican Party. Lopez announced he wouldn’t run in November if he wins the vacancy election.
Six Republicans are running in the primary for the nomination to run in November for the 4th district: U.S. Rep. Lauren Boebert, who represents the 3rd District, Deborah Flora, Richard Holtorf, Michael Lynch, Jerry Sonnenberg and Peter Yu. The Democrats are Trisha Calvarese, Ike McCorkle, and John Padora Jr.
Beginning on June 10, all voters in the 4th Congressional district will have 15 days of early voting. This provides seven additional days of early voting for the vacancy election on top of the statutory requirement of eight days of early voting for a state primary election.
Coloradans affiliated with the Republican or Democratic party will receive only the ballot of the party which they are affiliated. Unaffiliated voters will receive a ballot for both major parties but can only vote one of the ballots to be counted. Minority party voters in the 4th district whose party is not holding a primary election will receive a ballot featuring only the vacancy election.
All counties in the 4th District are required to provide a separate instruction card with all ballots mailed to voters with an explanation of the vacancy election on their ballot.
Voters can find the locations of voting centers, opening dates and hours at GoVoteColorado.gov. All Colorado voters can sign up to track their ballot from when it is sent to when it is counted using BallotTrax.
