The next major election is the 2025 Coordinated Election on Tuesday, Nov. 4. To register, Colorado residents can easily do so online via the Secretary of State's website, or in person at the Weld County Clerk and Recorder's office right up to and including Election Day. Voting in Colorado is primarily done through a mail-in ballot system, with ballots being sent to all registered voters starting a few weeks before the election. You can return your completed ballot by mail or at one of the official 24-hour drop-off locations or Voter Service and Polling Centers (VSPCs). In-person voting and ballot replacement services are also available at VSPCs throughout the county leading up to and on Election Day.
Across Weld County, three individuals, connected only by the shared date on that page, Tuesday, Nov. 4, the General Election, were finalizing their voting plans. This was no ordinary election; it was a comprehensive moment of civic choice, featuring everything from the pivotal national contests to critical local decisions on the Weld County Commissioner seats and various statewide ballot initiatives that would shape Colorado’s economy and social policy for years to come. The weight of these choices, local, state and federal, lent a gravity to the impending deadline.
For Faith Gibeau, a UNC student, the challenge wasn’t motivation, but paperwork. She had moved cross-country to Greeley for school, and the deadlines felt like moving targets. The process of establishing residency felt tedious and stressful, like an obstacle course designed just for out-of-state students.
“As an out-of-state student at UNC, the hardest part was figuring out if I should even vote here or back home,” she confessed to a friend over coffee. “I chose Greeley, but proving residency and getting a new state ID just to register felt like I was back in high school. I'm registered now, but I was worried I wouldn't make the cut-off to get a ballot mailed to my dorm in time.”
Once that initial batch of mail ballots began moving, the election season was officially in full swing, offering every active registered voter a physical connection to the ballot box.
Laura Palmer, a long-time Greeley resident, didn't worry about the mail date; she worried about time. Her job in Loveland meant she spent ten hours a day outside of Weld County. In a different county, she would have had to race back from Larimer County to find a polling place, but Colorado’s mail-in system was designed for efficiency, prioritizing the voter’s residence.
“I live in Greeley, but I’m in Loveland working most of the day. Honestly, if Colorado didn't mail ballots, I’d never have time to vote!” Palmer explained, tucking her Weld County ballot into her purse a week before Election Day. “I just make sure my Weld County ballot is signed and dropped in a box before 7 p.m. on Election Day. My residence is what matters, not where I clock in.”
Palmer represented the streamlined voter, relying on secure drop-off boxes that required no stamps and no worries about postmarks, because a ballot received even a minute past the 7 p.m. deadline is automatically rejected.
Then there was Mason Peck, a new voter, navigating the civic landscape for the first time. The flexibility of Colorado’s system, online registration, in-person registration, mail ballots and in-person voting, had only amplified his confusion.
“When they said I could register to vote online or in person, and even on Election Day, I got confused,” Peck said. “It's my first time, so I didn't know if I’d done it right online. My plan is just to go to a Voter Service and Polling Center right before Election Day. That way, if anything is wrong with my registration, I can fix it and vote right there, up until 7 p.m.”
Peck understood the ultimate fail-safe: the Voter Service and Polling Centers (VSPCs) are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on Nov. 4, offering registration, replacement ballots, and in-person voting right up to the final second.
Three voters, three different paths, all converging on the firm, unmoving deadline that united them: 7 p.m.
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