Colorado ranks 36th on the Heritage election integrity scorecard

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice

By the Heritage Foundation’s count, Colorado checks most of the boxes on voter rolls. On voter ID, mail ballots and citizenship verification, it checks fewer than half.

As of Oct. 2, the result is 45 of a possible 100 points on the think tank’s 2026 Election Integrity Scorecard.

That puts Colorado 36th among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s office did not respond to questions RMV sent Sept. 29 about the scorecard’s findings.

Heritage grades state election laws and procedures, not the results of any particular election. Its published methodology scores states in 15 areas the foundation says are essential to secure elections.

Most of Colorado’s missing points come from three categories. Voter ID, mail ballot rules and citizenship verification account for 35 of the 55 points the state did not earn.

One of the scorecard’s questions is on Colorado’s November ballot.

Where Colorado earned credit

Colorado earned 18 of 21 points for the accuracy of its voter rolls. No other category gave the state more points.

Heritage credited Colorado for comparing its voter file against DMV records, corrections records, state vital records and Social Security death data. It also scored the state as using the Postal Service’s change-of-address system, sharing registration data with four or more other states and checking new registration addresses for anomalies.

Three points got away. According to the scorecard, Colorado does not compare its rolls against welfare and public assistance records, and does not use commercial data such as credit agency records.

Heritage withheld the third because, by its scoring, state law does not make federal courts’ use of Colorado’s lists for jury pools conditional on the courts reporting back jurors disqualified for a felony conviction or non-citizenship.

Colorado took full marks for election observer access and vote counting practices. It also got full credit for prohibiting foreign funding of ballot measures, a category Heritage raised scores for in its September 2026 update.

Voter ID

On voter ID, Colorado scored 6 of 20.

Anyone who votes at a polling place in Colorado has to show identification. The Secretary of State’s list of acceptable ID includes non-photo documents, such as a utility bill, bank statement, paycheck or government check dated within the last 60 days.

Heritage gave partial credit for that, 2 of 6 points.

The next question drew nothing. Heritage asks whether a state requires a photo ID or a unique identifier, such as a driver’s license serial number or the last four digits of a Social Security number, for absentee voting.

Colorado scored 0 of 6.

State law does require ID from some mail voters. Under C.R.S. 1-7.5-107, certain voters who have not voted in Colorado before must send a copy of identification with their mail ballot.

Colorado picked up 3 of 6 for providing free photo ID and 1 of 2 on affidavit exceptions.

Tennessee, ranked first with 87 points, earned all 20.

Mail ballots

That same statute, which lawmakers amended this year to change the mailing window, requires county clerks to mail a ballot to each active registered voter ahead of general, primary and other mail ballot elections.

In 2024, 92 percent of ballots cast in Colorado were mail ballots, according to the legislature’s 2026 Blue Book.

Heritage deducts for that system. Colorado earned 7 of 17 points on absentee ballot management.

The largest deduction was 4 points for automatically mailing ballots to all registered voters. Heritage withheld 2 more on a separate question about mailing ballot request forms, 1 for keeping a permanent mail ballot list and 1 for not requiring a signed voter request.

The last 2 came from having no witness or notary requirement and no limit on how many ballots one person can witness.

Colorado got credit for signature comparison, for keeping ballots sealed until voter information is verified and for investigating registrations when a ballot comes back undeliverable. It earned all 3 points for requiring ballots to arrive by the close of polls on Election Day.

Heritage also scored the state as not using unattended, unsecured drop boxes.

Ballot collection

Colorado scored 0 of 4 on what Heritage calls vote harvesting.

Heritage’s question asks whether a state bars anyone other than immediate family or a caregiver from picking up and delivering a voter’s ballot. Colorado law lets a voter give the ballot to “any person of the elector’s own choice” for mailing or delivery.

There is a cap. No one other than an authorized agent of the county clerk or designated election official may receive more than 10 mail ballots in an election.

Citizenship verification

Citizenship verification is worth 13 points. Colorado got 2.

Heritage gave partial credit for using the federal Systematic Alien Verification for Entitlement (SAVE) database to help identify non-citizens who register. The state did not receive the extra point for reviewing its voter list through SAVE on a quarterly or annual basis.

Everything else in the category came back zero. 

According to the scorecard, Colorado does not require documentary proof of citizenship to register, and its driver’s license agency does not regularly send citizenship data to the chief election official. Heritage also found that election officials do not use state or federal jury records to check citizenship.

Heritage also scored the state as not requiring licenses and ID cards to note whether the holder is a citizen, and not requiring a new card when citizenship status changes.

Colorado does mark one group of cards.

 C.R.S. 42-2-505 requires licenses and IDs issued to people who are not lawfully present to display the phrase “Not valid for federal identification, voting, or federal public benefit purposes.” The Secretary of State does not accept those cards as voter ID.

Tennessee scored 5 of 13.

Registration and other rules

Colorado scored zero in four smaller categories.

Heritage deducted 3 points because Colorado does not require voters to register before Election Day and 3 because the state registers voters automatically. Another 3 came off because Colorado does not bar private funding of election officials and agencies.

Colorado also lost its single point on ranked choice voting. Heritage withholds that point from any state where a political jurisdiction uses the method.

On audits, Colorado earned 1 of 2. Heritage credited a post-election manual check of ballots but not an audit of whether election procedures and list maintenance laws were followed.

The state took 2 of 3 on election litigation rules and 2 of 3 on identification requirements for people who help voters.

On the November ballot

Amendment 84, a citizen initiative on the Nov. 3 ballot, would add an identification step to mail voting in federal and statewide elections.

Voters would have to include the last four digits of a government-issued identification number with their mail ballot, according to the Blue Book. A Social Security number or a Real ID-compliant Colorado driver’s license or ID card number would qualify.

Signature verification would continue. A ballot with missing or unmatched information would not count unless the voter fixed it within eight days of Election Day.

As a constitutional amendment, it needs 55 percent of the vote to pass.

Heritage’s absentee ID question names the last four digits of a Social Security number and a driver’s license serial number as examples of what it looks for.

Colorado scores 0 of 6 on that question.