Colorado has mailed ballots to every active registered voter for more than a decade. To ensure these ballots are counted correctly on Election Day, county clerks spend months preparing.
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In the Weld County election office, Clerk and Recorder Carly Koppes oversees that work.
“I have my team of election officials underneath me, and we are the ones that are designing your ballot,” Koppes said. “We're making sure that you're getting the correct ballot. We're making sure the correct people are on your ballot for the primary.”
Preparing ballots is only part of the job — voting equipment must also be maintained and routinely tested.
“We hold our public logic and accuracy testing, so that's when we allow the public to come in,” Koppes said. “We have two representatives from the major parties, so one from the Democratic Party and one from the Republican Party, that come in, they randomly select some of our equipment that we have, and they test it.”
Larimer County Clerk Tina Harris says educating voters is another key part of the job. She regularly hosts "Coffee with the Clerk" events where voters can ask questions about elections and how they work.
“That's why I'm out in the community every chance that I get, because that's what builds that security in the minds, right? That confidence,” said Harris.
Those efforts come amid an ongoing national conversation over voter access and voting by mail.
President Donald Trump has repeatedly criticized mail ballots and Colorado's election system — even singling it out as "very corrupt.” He signed an executive order earlier this year aimed at tightening rules around mail voting and voter registration.
In response, state Rep. Emily Sirota, a Denver Democrat, and other Colorado Democrats passed House Bill 1113 during this year’s legislative session to protect the state's election system from the federal government.
“We want to ensure that we are preserving Colorado’s ability to carry out elections,” Sirota said. “We have the tools to make sure we can continue to conduct our elections regardless of federal interference.”
The bill, which Sirota co-sponsored, also requires counties to make mail ballots and drop boxes available earlier.
In Colorado, voting by mail remains overwhelmingly popular.
Matt Crane, a Republican and former county clerk who now leads the Colorado County Clerks Association, said mail voting has long been used by voters from both parties.
“Colorado voters love their mail ballots, and every election we’re well over 90 percent of those who vote cast their mail ballot,” said Crane.
He adds that assumptions about which party benefits most from mail voting have changed over time.
“It's funny, before we went to all mail ballots, the general rule of thought was that mail ballots helped Republicans more, that more Republicans were voting by mail,” Crane said. “Now, thanks in part to a lot of the false narratives about 2020, there's this idea that it helps Democrats more, and actually it helps both parties a great deal.”
Seth Masket, a professor of political science at the University of Denver and former director of its Center on American Politics, believes Colorado's election system has become a national model.
Masket said Colorado consistently ranks among the nation's leaders in voter turnout and public trust, with voters showing "some of the highest levels of faith in their election systems."
But Masket said false claims about election fraud still affect how voters view the system.
“That contributes to people losing faith in the system and being distrustful of any election they lose,” Masket said. “It undermines one of the basic tenets of democracy.”
Maintaining public trust in Colorado's election system continues to be a top priority for election officials after Gov. Jared Polis commuted the sentence of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters.
She was released from prison this month after being convicted of her role in tampering with voting machines following the 2020 presidential election.
Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said Peters’ early release could embolden false claims of election fraud and hurt voter confidence.
“I do think giving her any type of special treatment is absolutely the wrong decision, and it's an egregious mistake for our state in our elections,” Griswold said. “But I do not think it's going to affect turnout itself. We expect to have a good election. Our elections are safe and secure.”
Back in the Weld County election office, Koppes says Colorado's election system is ultimately built around helping voters make informed choices.
“These are people you're selecting to represent you, so you want to make sure that they're representing what you value in your life,” Koppes said. “Everybody comes from different backgrounds, everybody has different filters, and it's important that you have the ability to become an educated voter.”
Colorado primary election ballots arrive in mailboxes this week. Voters can return their ballots by mail, use a drop box, or vote in person through the primary election on June 30.
