Secretary of state outlines election night procedures for voting results

DENVER — Election results will begin to be available after polls close at 7 p.m. Tuesday night but are likely to be incomplete until several days later.

In a press statement, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold spelled out the process for counting ballots and directed people to either county clerk and recorder websites or to the state www.GoVoteColorado.gov website.

She said that unofficial results will begin to be available after the polls close. Because in Colorado county clerks can begin to check  tabulate ballots, such as mailed ballots or those cast ahead of the election at polling sites, as soon as they are received, those tabulations will be available soon after 7 p.m.  

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“In Colorado, county clerks process ballots prior to election day, which enables a high percentage of results to be reported on election night. But election night results are never final results,” Griswold said. “In the days after election day, military and overseas voters return their ballots, signature discrepancies can be fixed, and bipartisan audits are conducted to determine statistical confidence in the results.  Like any election, there is quite a bit of activity after election day.”

Colorado does not segregate ballots by the manner in which they are cast, she said. But because early in-person ballots and mailed ballots are most likely to be processed before election day, those results frequently are reported first.

In past elections, Colorado has been able to provide more than 75% of results on election night. The biggest variable impacting when results will be reported is the number of Coloradans who vote (either early in-person or return their mail ballot via mail, drop box or in person) in advance of election day relative to those who return their ballot or vote in-person on election day, she said.

Results will be posted to the state election website and may also be posted to county clerk and recorder websites. Counties are not required to post results, she said.

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