More than 2.4 million ballots have been returned in Colorado, narrowing the gap between voter turnout during the 2022 and 2018 midterm elections after weeks of underperformance.

As of 11:59 p.m. Tuesday, 2,444,585 ballots were returned, according to the Secretary of State’s Office.

This number is expected to increase as counting continues in county clerk offices throughout the state, with additional updates scheduled to be released on Thursday and Monday.

Ballot returns jumped by nearly 760,000 in only 24 hours, inching this year’s voter turnout closer to 2018 numbers. In 2018, 2,566,784 ballots were cast in Colorado, meaning this year’s voter turnout is only around 122,000 ballots short. On Monday, the 2022 turnout was over 277,000 ballots below turnout at the same date in 2018. 

So far, 63.7% of Colorado’s 3.84 million active registered voters have returned a ballot. In 2018, 74.9% of active registered voters submitted a ballot.

The biggest increase in voter turnout came from unaffiliated voters, who casted over 335,000 ballots between Monday and Tuesday night – accounting for 44.2% of the 24-hour jump. Democrats returned nearly 208,000 additional ballots and Republicans returned around 202,000.

In total, 40.2% of Colorado ballots came from unaffiliated voters, followed by Democrats with 30.4% and Republicans with 28.1%.

This ranking was the same in 2018, but with much closer splits: 31.8% unaffiliated, 31.0% Democrat and 30.6% Republican. This year, unaffiliated voters have returned over 166,000 more ballots than they did in 2018. Turnout is slightly below 2018 numbers for both Democrats and Republicans.

Over 95% of ballots cast were mailed in, with only 120,000 people voting in person.

Voters aged 65 and over returned 29.36% of Colorado’s ballots, voters aged 45 to 64 returned 34.84% of ballots, and voters younger than 45 returned 35.80% of ballots.

Jefferson County residents made up the biggest chunk of voters, submitting over 302,000 ballots. Rounding out the top five: El Paso, Denver, Arapahoe and Douglas counties, with returned ballots ranging from 291,339 to 193,508.