Colorado hoping for more people to register to vote

With Colorado’s midterm less than two months away, election leaders are encouraging people to register to vote.

It’s an important election for the state with races for governor, attorney general, congressional representatives, and several ballot measures. While many will cast their vote in November, others don’t see voting in the midterm as a priority.

El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Chuck Broerman says out of the nearly 500,000 registered voters, they are expecting a little more than half to turn in their ballot.

“We have approximately 470,000 voters in El Paso County. We are one of the most populous counties in the state, with Denver. I’m expecting in the 250,000 range or so but time will tell,” Broerman says.

Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams, who is also running for re-election, agrees. Williams says typically in midterm elections, voter turnout is not as high as other elections.

“In Colorado, we typically have a significantly higher turnout for presidential elections,” says Williams.

That’s why the county and state are pushing people to register in hopes that more votes will be turned in. Even though Colorado has the highest number of registered voters compared to other states.

“We are the state with the highest percentage of registered voters in America at 90 percent, but that still means ten percent aren’t yet registered and we want them to be able to participate in the process,” Williams said.

Officials also want to make sure if you are registered to vote, your address is correct. Broerman says close to 10,000 ballots were not turned in because they were sent to the wrong address.

Ballots will be mailed out to voters on Oct. 15. If you want to register to vote or change your address, click here.

Or go to https://www.sos.state.co.us/voter/pages/pub/home.xhtml