Early Voting Begins Near Colorado State U.

This story was written by Trevor Simonton, Rocky Mountain Collegian

Walking out of the polls Wednesday with a smile on her face holding an amendment cheat sheet, senior microbiology student Stella Kratzer slapped on a white one-by-three inch sticker on her black jacket that, embroidered in red and white, reads in bold blue letters, "I voted."

"It was really easy - just pop in, and pop out," she said.

Early voting began Monday, and students and Larimer County residents -- about 400 of them per day, said Doreen Spindler, the Troubleshooting Judge overseeing the votes -- have been trickling into the Lory Student Center's second floor North Ballroom to make their voices heard.

Spindler said she recommends that every student come to vote early as to avoid jammed polls on Election Day, Nov. 4.

"So far there's been a pretty good turnout, and it gets better as the word gets out," she said.

Several students arriving at the ballroom Wednesday were not sure what they needed to have with them at the polls to vote.

As the doorman said repeatedly throughout the day, all that is needed is a picture ID card issued by the state of Colorado; student IDs will suffice.

Also needed to vote is a state-provided signature card, which should be arriving in the mailboxes of all of those who made sure they were registered to vote at their current address. Students do not need to wait for the signature card to be delivered before casting their votes, however, as the cards will also be offered at the polls.

All early voting centers, like the one in the North Ballroom of the LSC, which is open from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, will act also as places where mail-in ballots can be dropped off.

There are two other early voting centers in Fort Collins:

Larimer County Courthouse Offices, 200 W. Oak Street, 1st floor

Harmony Marketplace (East of Ace Hardware), 1001 East Harmony Road

"One thing new this year is our ability to keep early voting centers open on Saturday, Oct. 25," said Scott Doyle, Larimer County Clerk and Recorder, in a press release.

Voters can request a mail-in ballot and check their current registered addresses at http://larimer.org/elections.

The deadline to request to have mail-in ballots sent to personal mailboxes is Tuesday. After that date, voters have until Friday, Oct. 31 to pick up the mail-in-ballots in person.

All mail-in ballots must be received by the Elections Department no later than 7 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 4. Postmark dates do not count if the ballot is not received by that time and date.

The Larimer County Clerk and Recorder reported that the Elections Department has already sent out more than 107,000 ballots, which makes up more than 60 percent of the 177,000 registered voters in the county.

Voters also would be well advised to take some time to review what the effects of each of the 18 referendums and amendment will be, as this ballot is the longest Colorado has seen since 1912.

Elections Beat Reporter Trevor Simonton can be reached at news@collegian.com.