AP Decision Notes: What to expect in Colorado on Election Day

WASHINGTON (AP) — Colorado voters will elect leaders for federal, state and local offices on Tuesday. Here are some of the key facts about the election and data points the AP Decision Team will monitor as the votes are tallied:

Polls close at 7 p.m. local time, which is 9 p.m. ET.

The Associated Press will provide vote results and declare winners in races for U.S. Senate, governor, U.S. House, attorney general, secretary of state, statewide ballot measures, state Senate, state House, Regional Transportation District board of directors, State Board of Education, state treasurer and University of Colorado Board of Regents.

About 2.5 million votes were cast in Colorado's 2022 race for the U.S. Senate.

Elections in Colorado are conducted predominantly by mail. The latest advance vote totals for Colorado can be found in the AP’s advance vote tracker .

In most Colorado counties, the first vote update of the night tends to include a mix of results from mail, early in-person and Election Day in-person voting. Since Colorado elections are conducted primarily by mail, mail voting results are released throughout the night, along with results from other voting methods.

The first results of the 2024 general election were reported starting at 9:05 p.m. ET on Nov. 5, five minutes after polls closed. The state reached 50% of votes reporting at 9:43 p.m. ET, and 90% of votes reporting at 8:11 p.m. ET on Nov. 7.

The Associated Press does not make projections and will declare a winner only when it’s determined there is no scenario that would allow a trailing candidate to close the gap. If a race has not been called, the AP will continue to cover any newsworthy developments, such as candidate concessions or declarations of victory. In doing so, the AP will make clear that it has not yet declared a winner and explain why.

In Colorado, an automatic recount is triggered if the margin between the top two vote-getters is 0.5% or less of the leading candidate’s vote total. The AP may declare a winner in a race that is subject to a recount if it can determine the lead is too large for a recount or legal challenge to change the outcome.

Follow the AP’s coverage of the 2026 election at https://apnews.com/projects/elections-2026/ .