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Record Political Spending Could Not Buy Every Victory in Colorado Primaries
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Estes Park Trail Gazette, Approved, State

Record Political Spending Could Not Buy Every Victory in Colorado Primaries

By Nick Coltrain | Estes Park Trail Gazette Analysis shows major amounts spent by campaigns, outside interests — mostly in Democratic races The $67 million storm has passed. For now. That is roughly how much was spent on all of Colorado’s competitive primaries for statewide and federal office — and almost all of it went to influence Democrat-vs.-Democrat contests as voters picked who would represent the party in November’s election, according to an analysis by The Denver Post. Millions more went to down-ballot races, such as local legislative races. The rain from the proverbial storm of cash poured down in the form of candidate mailers, door knockers, and TV and digital ads, and in less apparent campaign infrastructure and polls. The vast majority of the ...
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Colorado’s dirty voter roll: When one registration becomes two
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s dirty voter roll: When one registration becomes two

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice A voter registration is intended to identify one eligible voter. In Part 5, Mike O'Donnell shares examples he flagged during a manual review of more than 412,000 Colorado voter records that he says appear to show duplicate registrations created by small differences in names and other identifying information. Duplicated Voter Registrations The vast number of new registrants added to the Colorado voter roll each year are added automatically. The Department of Revenue is required to electronically report information on “each unregistered elector or person eligible to preregister who applies for the issuance, renewal, or correction of a Colorado driver's license or identification card and who provides documentation of ...
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Victor Marx Wins GOP Nomination Setting Up Colorado Governor Showdown
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Victor Marx Wins GOP Nomination Setting Up Colorado Governor Showdown

By Robert Garrison | Denver7 DENVER — The too-close-to-call GOP primary for Colorado governor has been settled more than a week after the election. The Associated Press has projected that Marine Corps veteran Victor Marx has won the Republican nomination, defeating his opponent, Barbara Kirkmeyer, by at least 2,142 votes. The June 30 Republican primary for governor had been too close to call at the end of election night, with Marx having a slight lead. However, most counties, including the largest ones, have now reported their final results. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT DENVER7
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Colorado immediately assessed Trump’s election order. USPS defended its proposal. A court blocked key parts.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado immediately assessed Trump’s election order. USPS defended its proposal. A court blocked key parts.

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado election officials said they diverted staff to evaluate President Trump's executive order while 2026 preparations were already underway. USPS said the proposal formalizes election-mail practices it has recommended for years. The dispute has now moved to the appeals courts. Colorado election officials told a federal court they began evaluating changes to the state's election systems almost immediately after President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing federal agencies to overhaul parts of federal election administration.  In sworn filings, they said the order required them to divert staff time to analyze how new federal citizenship verification and ballot-mail procedures would interact with the state's syste...
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Colorado’s dirty voter roll: Following the ballot
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s dirty voter roll: Following the ballot

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice  Colorado relies on the U.S. Postal Service to deliver millions of ballots, but the mail carrier isn't always the last person to handle them. In Part 4, Mike O'Donnell examines Colorado's chain of custody—from group homes and shelters to commercial mail locations, drop boxes and ballot harvesting. Ballot Chain of Custody Because Colorado is a vote-by-mail state, the U.S. Postal Service, as a (mostly) trusted agency of the federal government, is the primary delivery mechanism used to ensure that ballots are delivered to all active status registrants.  Colorado ballots are, for the most part, delivered by U.S. Postal Service workers directly into the home mailboxes or secure mail boxes at local post offi...
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Marx Clings to Narrow Lead as Colorado Election Officials Finish Ballot Review
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DENVER7, Approved, State

Marx Clings to Narrow Lead as Colorado Election Officials Finish Ballot Review

By Seth Klamann | Denver7 Race has remained largely unchanged for days, but it remains too close to call with some ballots still out. Victor Marx has held a narrow, roughly 2,000-vote lead over state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer for several days, but the race is still too close to call as the window for voters to fix deficient ballots remains open. Marx, a religious nonprofit leader, has led Kirkmeyer for nearly a week after overtaking the veteran lawmaker the day after polls closed in the June 30 primary. With more than 518,000 ballots counted, Marx led Kirkmeyer 39.8% to 39.5%, according to the Associated Press. The AP projected that 98% of votes had been counted. READ THE FULL ARTICLE AT DENVER7
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Independent Candidate Launches Last Minute Bid for Colorado’s First Congressional District
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The Denver Gazette, Approved, State

Independent Candidate Launches Last Minute Bid for Colorado’s First Congressional District

By Mark Samuelson | The Denver Gazette Democratic Socialist Melat Kiros’ surprising defeat of 15-term Congresswoman Diana DeGette may be creating a void within Denver’s voter base — and at least one latecomer is jumping into that gap, petitioning to get himself on the November ballot as an independent candidate. Dr. Shimon Blau told The Denver Gazette he spent the weekend stewing about the direction of the state’s politics following last week’s primary election and Kiros’ victory. On Monday, he carried out a frenzied exchange of phone calls with the Colorado Secretary of State’s office to obtain the right application. Late that afternoon, Blau said, he filed the paperwork to petition for valid signatures in Colorado’s 1st Congressional District. If he can come up with ...
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No way out: Rural Colorado is outvoted at every turn
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

No way out: Rural Colorado is outvoted at every turn

By Shaina Cole | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Tom Harrington manages a 500-cow operation on the Crystal River Ranch, two miles from the town of Carbondale on a mesa west of town.  He grew up in Ridgway.  A friend sent him some papers from the North Park area of Walden showing the school news, a note from the old folks' home and local ads. "I looked through these papers and I thought, man, this is like the 70s in Ridgway," he said. Those things have disappeared from the Carbondale he lives in now. "They've certainly left here." He has also watched the valley floor transform in his 18 years on the ranch, hayfields replaced by a shopping complex and apartment buildings, the quiet gone with it. "Once things are paved over," he said, "they never come back....
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Colorado’s dirty voter roll: Where the ballots go
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s dirty voter roll: Where the ballots go

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice  Getting on and getting off the voter rolls were the first two questions. In Part 3, Mike O’Donnell turns to where Colorado voter data and ballots go next—through ERIC, out-of-state mailing addresses and overseas voting rules he argues deserve closer scrutiny. The Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC) ERIC is a nonprofit membership-based organization currently supported by twenty-six states, including Colorado. Member states share detailed voter rolls and DMV information with ERIC.  Colorado taxpayers pay around $50,000 a year for their membership in ERIC and the (alleged) primary benefit to the state is that ERIC monitors NCOAs that they share with the Colorado Secretary of State although, as n...
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Colorado’s dirty voter roll: Getting off isn’t so easy
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado’s dirty voter roll: Getting off isn’t so easy

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Getting onto Colorado's voter rolls is only half the story. In Part 2, Mike O'Donnell examines how names come off the rolls—and why he argues the current process often leaves outdated registrations behind. Centenarian Registrants in Colorado The 2026 World Population Review estimates that there are 890 centenarians (people aged 100 or older) currently living in Colorado.  According to the public Colorado voter roll, the state is home to 1,569 centenarians. Different local news sources identify that three 109 year old individuals potentially and currently share the title of the oldest Coloradan alive today. But according to the public Colorado voter roll, there are thirty-four registrants who are older, t...
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