Elec­tion Day is Tues­day, Nov. 3, but reg­is­tered vot­ers in Col­orado will receive mail-in bal­lots after Oct. 9. With nation­al con­cern about the verac­i­ty of mail-in bal­lots, Col­orado has become a focal point. Col­orado began statewide vote by mail in 2013, although some coun­ties used it before that.

Vot­ers and poten­tial vot­ers will have ques­tions about how vot­er reg­is­tra­tion works, how mail-in bal­lots work, how bal­lots are count­ed and more. The Col­orado News Col­lab­o­ra­tive and its mem­bers, includ­ing The Den­ver Post, want to answer those questions.

Here’s this week’s big question:

Do I have to request a ballot from my county clerk or the Secretary of State?

Not if you’re an active reg­is­tered vot­er. Coun­ty clerks auto­mat­i­cal­ly will begin mail­ing bal­lots to active reg­is­tered vot­ers on Oct. 9. A vot­er is con­sid­ered active if they’ve vot­ed in the most recent gen­er­al elec­tions or updat­ed their address or oth­er reg­is­tra­tion information

A recent nation­wide mail­er from the U.S. Postal Ser­vice insin­u­ates that vot­ers must request mail-in or absen­tee bal­lots. Col­orado Sec­re­tary of State Jena Gris­wold is suing the Postal Ser­vice, say­ing the mail­er is mis­lead­ing and could dis­en­fran­chise voters.

A fed­er­al judge issued an order late Sat­ur­day to halt the mail­ings, and the Postal Ser­vice asked that he recon­sid­er the order on Sun­day. On Mon­day, the Postal Ser­vice said it already deliv­ered 75% of the mailers.

Find out if you’re reg­is­tered at GoV­ote­Col­orado. And get your coun­ty elec­tions office information.

Have a ques­tion we haven’t answered yet? Sub­mit it here.

Read on for more information.

Voting

What if I’ve moved?

This link also will allow you to change your address.

What if my name changed?

You’ll need to fill out this form and take it to your coun­ty clerk or mail it to the Col­orado Sec­re­tary of State.

What’s the difference between an “active” voter and an “inactive” voter?

As men­tioned above, a vot­er is con­sid­ered active if they’ve vot­ed in the most recent elec­tions or updat­ed their address or oth­er reg­is­tra­tion infor­ma­tion. A vot­er is con­sid­ered inac­tive if their coun­ty clerk receives returned mail to them marked “unde­liv­er­able.”

Under fed­er­al law, clerks must wait two gen­er­al elec­tion cycles before remov­ing inac­tive vot­ers from the data­base. Again, you may check GoV­ote­Col­orado to see if your reg­is­tra­tion is active and update your infor­ma­tion if it isn’t.

How long do I have to register?

You must reg­is­ter by Oct. 26 to get a bal­lot in the mail (but you’ll need to return it to a vote cen­ter or drop box). But you may reg­is­ter and vote in per­son at vote cen­ters through 7 p.m. on Elec­tion Day, Nov. 3.

Ballots

When will I get my ballot in the mail?

The first day bal­lots may be mailed is Oct. 9, a Fri­day, and they must be sent out by Oct. 16 at the lat­est. Check with your coun­ty clerk’s office for infor­ma­tion on when they will send out mail ballots.

How do I know if my ballot was received?

Vot­ers statewide may sign up to track your bal­lot online. You’ll get noti­fi­ca­tions via email, text mes­sage or phone (you may choose) when your bal­lot is mailed, and when it has been received and accept­ed. A dozen Col­orado coun­ties already offered bal­lot track­ing, so if you’re already signed up, there’s no need to do it again.

What if I don’t get my ballot?

Check GoV­ote­Col­orado to see if your bal­lot has been mailed. If it has been mailed and you haven’t received it, con­tact your coun­ty clerk’s office and ask. Not every coun­ty will send bal­lots out the first day pos­si­ble. But they need to hear from you if you don’t receive yours.

How do I return my ballot?

Bal­lots must arrive at a vote cen­ter or coun­ty clerk’s office by 7 p.m. Nov. 3. You may mail your bal­lot back, if there’s enough time for it to arrive. You may also deliv­er it to drop box­es at your coun­ty clerk’s office or oth­er loca­tions in your coun­ty. Begin­ning Oct. 19, you may deliv­er it to vot­er cen­ters staffed by elec­tion work­ers. About 75% of Col­orado vot­ers return their mail bal­lots to drop box­es, accord­ing to the Sec­re­tary of State’s office.

Are drop boxes safe from tampering?

Yes, accord­ing to the Sec­re­tary of State’s Office. They are under 24-hour video sur­veil­lance and are emp­tied every day by a team of bipar­ti­san elec­tion judges. The stur­dy, met­al box­es are bolt­ed to the ground.

If I send my ballot back by mail, will it get there?

The Sec­re­tary of State rec­om­mends deliv­er­ing bal­lots in per­son in the final eight days before the elec­tion. If you mail them before that, they should arrive in time.

I don’t want to vote by mail. I want to vote in person.

Col­orado will open about 330 vote cen­ters begin­ning Oct. 19. You may vote there in per­son start­ing then through 7 p.m. Elec­tion Day with some lim­it­ed week­end hours.

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