We have 3.1 million registered voters in Colorado this year. The Denver Post reports some interesting statistics about them:

  • 164,553 voters have already sent in their mail-in ballots.
  • “40 percent of all voters, including the “inactive” bunch who have missed two consecutive federal elections, have requested mail-in ballots.”
  • “As of Friday…. 57.7 percent of all “active” Colorado voters — had been sent mail-in ballots. That’s more than twice the number who requested mail-ins in 2004 and 2006. “

Based on projections from county clerks who responded to a Post survey, voter turnout may top 90 percent.

Fill out your ballot carefully. A national expert interviewed by the Post warns that mistakes are more likely with mail-in and absentee ballots because people don’t fill them in correctly. Denver’s ballot requires you to draw a line to connect options rather than make a check or an X. A copy is available here (pdf.)

Early voting begins today. For Denver, you can find the 13 locations here. You can vote early from Monday, October 20 to Saturday, October 25 and between Monday, October 27 and Friday, October 31. The hours at most locations are from 11 a.m. to 7 p.m. The Denver Elections Division location, 3888 East Mexico Avenue, offers extended early-voting hours from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m.

For early-voting information outside of Denver, go here and click on your county.

About those amendments: Don’t bother with Amendments 53, 55, 56, and 57 as they have been withdrawn, and votes on them won’t be counted. For information about the other measures, check the Colorado Voters’ Blue Book, available here (pdf).