DENVER — Colorado voters love to have their voices heard.
As of 4 p.m. on Monday, the day before Election Day 2020, 2.75 million voters had returned their ballots.
In the 2016 Presidential election, 2.85 million Colorado voters returned ballots.
Since the majority of ballots have been sent back early, we should have a fair idea of winners and losers on Tuesday night.
However, the results that you see on Tuesday night are by no means final. And it's not because Colorado allows people to vote late.
"Seven p.m. on election night is the absolute deadline. We can't accept any ballots from folks running up and saying, 'Hey, 7:01, here's my ballot.' Can't do it," said Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul Lopez.
Colorado is among two dozen states that require ballots to be received by a specific time deadline on Election Day. Colorado's deadline is 7 p.m.
Why?
State law, that's why.
"We're a 'received by' state, so we have to have your ballot in our hands by 7 p.m. on Election Day," said Arapahoe County Elections Director Peg Perl.
Colorado Revised Statute 1-7.5-107 (4)(b)(II): "…Mail ballot envelopes received after 7 p.m. on the day of the election but postmarked on or before the day of the election will remain sealed and uncounted…"
There are states that accept ballots based on postmarks.
Nearly two dozen states allow for ballots to be accepted after Election Day, as long as they are postmarked either the day before or Election Day itself.
California, for example, allows for ballots to be counted if they're postmarked by Election Day and received up to 17 days after.
Pennsylvania, which may be the center of a court battle over accepting late ballots, currently allows ballots to be counted if they're postmarked by Election Day, but received by Friday.
Colorado does not accept late ballots, even if they're postmarked by Election Day. However, vote totals will change over the next week.
"Folks who had any kind of rejection in their signature, and they got a communication from us, have up to nine days post-election to be able to cure that," said Lopez.
Last year, Lopez was running for clerk and recorder against Perl, when they both spent the eight days following the election chasing votes. Their race was separated by hundreds of votes, so they spent that time contacting voters whose vote hadn't yet counted because of a signature or ID problem with their ballot.
This year, that "cure" period is nine days because the eighth day falls on Veterans Day.
Voters who fix their signatures or ID problem during this period can have their vote tallied after Election Day, and not because it's any funny business helping one specific candidate.
"It's a regular process that happens no matter who you vote for. We have no idea who you vote for because those ballots are still sealed while those ballots are being cured," said Perl.
It's also the time when overseas and military ballots can still be counted. Those are the only exception to the postmark rule. Overseas and military ballots can be accepted up to eight days after the election (nine this year), as long as they were postmarked by Election Day.
Another reason vote totals will change after Election Day is because county clerks make sure the ballots get to the correct county. If someone dropped off their ballot in a dropbox in a different county, the clerk holds onto that until Wednesday. Then, county clerks make sure the ballots get to the correct county for counting.
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