Election laws and legislation in Colorado

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Election law encompasses a wide array of issues, including voter registration, ballot access, early voting, absentee/mail-in voting and voter identification requirements. The laws governing the administration of elections can vary significantly from state to state and even between jurisdictions within states. This article identifies the statutory source of election law in Colorado and compiles information on proposed and enacted legislation that would modify election law in Colorado.

Analysis

See also: State of Election Administration Legislation Reports

2024

In 2024, Colorado legislators adopted an omnibus bill that changed several areas of election law and laid out new requirements related to the adoption of ranked-choice voting (RCV). The state also enacted five other bills related to voting in detention centers, presidential electors, and firearms near polling locations and election centers.

SB 210 lowered the age for voter preregistration from 16 to 15 years old and eliminated the ability for 17 year olds to vote in primary elections if they would be 18 at the time of the general election. It also required drop boxes on college campuses with at least 1,000 students (instead of 2,000) and made various other technical changes that supporters of the bill described as a clean up of state election laws. The bill also required that 12 counties of varying sizes and demographic profiles adopt and use RCV before it could be used for statewide elections. In some instances, the bill required jurisdictions with a certain number of voters "who speak English less than very well" to adopt RCV before it may be adopted elsewhere. For more on the RCV portion of the bill, click here.
SB 72 provided access to in-person early voting for eligible voters in county jails for at least six hours on one business day four to 15 days before Election Day. The new law also required sheriffs to designate at least one person to facilitate voting at each county jail or detention center and provided for training and technical assistance for this designee.
HB 1150 addressed several aspects of the presidential elector process and added criminal penalties for falsely submitting a list of presidential electors, knowingly voting as a false presidential elector, and knowingly voting as a presidential elector for candidates who did not receive the highest number of votes.
SB 131 modified rules for firearms in and near polling and tabulation locations. The new law prohibited the possession of a firearm within 100 feet of a voting, ballot counting, or ballot drop-off location, instead of only prohibiting openly carried firearms at these locations. The legislation made an exception for property owners whose property is within 100 feet of these locations.

At the November general election, Colorado voters rejected Proposition 131, which would have established top-four primary elections and RCV for the offices of U.S. Senate, U.S. House of Representatives, governor, attorney general, secretary of state, treasurer, Colorado University Board of Regents, state board of education, and state legislature.

Election law in Colorado

See also: Election administration in Colorado

The laws governing elections in Colorado are contained in Title 1 of the Colorado Revised Statutes.

Election legislation in Colorado

2025

The embedded table below lists all election-related bills introduced in Colorado in 2025. The following information is included for each bill:

State
Bill number
Official bill name or caption
Most recent action date
Legislative status
Sponsor party
Topics dealt with by the bill

Bills are organized by most recent action. The table displays up to 100 results. To view more bills, use the arrows in the upper-right corner. Clicking on a bill will open its page on Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker, which includes bill details and a summary.

2024

The embedded table below lists all election-related bills introduced in Colorado in 2024. The following information is included for each bill:

State
Bill number
Official bill name or caption
Most recent action date
Legislative status
Sponsor party
Topics dealt with by the bill

Bills are organized by most recent action. The table displays up to 100 results. To view more bills, use the arrows in the upper-right corner. Clicking on a bill will open its page on Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker, which includes bill details and a summary.

2023

The embedded table below lists all election-related bills introduced in Colorado in 2023. The following information is included for each bill:

State
Bill number
Official bill name or caption
Most recent action date
Legislative status
Sponsor party
Topics dealt with by the bill

Bills are organized by most recent action. The table displays up to 100 results. To view more bills, use the arrows in the upper-right corner. Clicking on a bill will open its page on Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker, which includes bill details and a summary.

2022

The embedded table below lists all election-related bills introduced in Colorado in 2022. The following information is included for each bill:

State
Bill number
Official bill name or caption
Most recent action date
Legislative status
Sponsor party
Topics dealt with by the bill

Bills are organized by most recent action. The table displays up to 100 results. To view more bills, use the arrows in the upper-right corner. Clicking on a bill will open its page on Ballotpedia's Election Administration Legislation Tracker, which includes bill details and a summary.

Election administration authorities

State election officials

In Colorado, the secretary of state is the chief election official. There is no state board of elections or equivalent authority. The secretary of state is elected by popular vote every four years.^[1]

Local election officials

Do you need information about elections in your area? Are you looking for your local election official? Click here to visit the U.S. Vote Foundation and use their election official lookup tool.

Election policy ballot measures

See also: Elections and campaigns on the ballot and List of Colorado ballot measures

Ballotpedia has tracked the following ballot measures relating to election and campaign policy in Colorado.

The Ballot Bulletin

The Ballot Bulletin is a weekly email that delivers the latest updates on election policy. The Ballot Bulletin tracks developments in election policy around the country, including legislative activity, big-picture trends, and recent news. Each email contains in-depth data from our Election Administration Legislation Tracker. You'll also be able to track relevant legislation, with links to and summaries of the bills themselves.