The CPR News voter guide to Colorado's 2022 primary elections: How to vote, who's running and more to know

Ballots are now out for this year’s Democratic and Republican primaries and must be returned by 7p.m. on Tuesday June 28th. Here’s some basic information for participating in the upcoming election.

Who gets to vote

Colorado’s primary elections are semi-open. Registered Democrats will only get a Democratic ballot, and the same for registered Republicans. Unaffiliated voters get both party’s ballots, but can only return one for it to count. Minor parties don’t hold primaries, but instead pick their candidates through assemblies.

The basics of voting

Colorado takes a have-it-your-way approach to voting. All active voters get their ballots in the mail. But you have a variety of options for actually submitting your ballot. You can mail it back (make sure to use enough postage and do it early enough for it to be delivered by the 28th!) Or you can drop it in a drop box in your county. Or if you don’t want to use your mail ballot, you can toss it out and opt to vote in person at a vote center anywhere in your county (this is also an option if your mail ballot never arrives).

To check or update your registration, the state website is govotecolorado.gov. The state is also urging voters to sign up for BallotTrax, which sends text alerts at nearly every stage in the process, from when your ballot is sent out to when your signature is verified and the ballot is scanned.

Who’s running in the primaries

The most high-profile primary contests this year are on the Republican side. That’s because Democrats hold the four main statewide offices and the U.S. Senate seat that’s up for reelection this year, and no one made it onto the ballot to challenge those incumbents. On the Republican side, there are hard-fought contests for governor, senate, secretary of state and a number of U.S. House seats. There are Democratic primaries in two Congressional districts.