What you need to know about automatic voter registration in Colorado

By Colorado Politics 10/16/2024 | updated 11 months ago

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voting election — In this file photo, an election judge helps a voter get her ballot at a DMV election center in Colorado Springs in 2018. (Jerilee Bennett, The Gazette)
JERILEE BENNETT, THE GAZETTE

Colorado automatically registers eligible residents as voters under a law enacted in 2019.

That law might help to explain the big spike in unaffiliated or independent voters in the state.

Senate Bill 235, which went took effect July 1, 2020, aimed to increase the number of registered voters in the state by automatically registering eligible individuals when they interact with the Division of Motor Vehicles.

Here’s a quick rundown of how the process works.

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How it works

Under the law, the Department of Motor Vehicles is required to send records of all eligible unregistered voters who interact with the DMV for services, such as insurance applications, registration renewals, or updates to driver’s licenses, to the Secretary of State’s Office.

The records are then sent over to county clerks, who determine if a person’s record is complete for voter registration purposes.

Next, a county clerk sends a notice to individuals informing them that they’ve been registered to vote and they can either opt out of the registration or choose to affiliate with a political party, or remain unaffiliated.

If there’s no response within 20 days, the individual is automatically registered as an unaffiliated. This may partially explain why the number of unaffiliated voters has increased significantly in recent years.

The law also requires agencies that oversee designated voter registration agencies, such as public assistance or disability offices, report to the Secretary of State’s Office on the number of voter registration forms they distribute and the number they receive back.

The Governor’s Office of Information Technology then evaluates these figures to determine whether agencies are gathering sufficient information for voter registration purposes.

According to the Secretary of State’s Office, more than 250,000 Coloradans registered to vote through the system in its first year.

In 2023, Colorado expanded automatic voter registration to its two federally-recognized tribes, the Southern Ute and the Ute Mountain Ute, making it the first state in the nation to do so.

Senate Bill 235 also required the Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to transfer records of unregistered voters who apply for Medicaid to the Secretary of State’s Office. However, due to roadblocks at the federal level, this portion of the bill has faced delays.

“HCPF, along with the Colorado Secretary of State’s office and the Governor’s office, have been working with our federal partners since the passage of SB19-235 pursuant to the law,” said agency spokesperson Marc Williams. “Currently, HCPF does not auto-register voters. Colorado has not received sufficient clearance from federal agencies, and conversations with federal agencies are ongoing.”

Is everyone eligible for automatic voter registration?

Essentially, any Colorado resident who owns a vehicle and complies with regular requirements to update their registration, driver’s license, and other state documents is eligible for automatic voter registration through the motor voter program, as long as they can prove legal citizenship.

Under the 1996 federal Illegal Immigration Reform and Immigration Responsibility Act, it is a deportable offense for noncitizens to vote in federal elections.

In 2020, Colorado voters approved Amendment 76, which changed the language in the state Constitution from saying “every citizen” of the United States is eligible to vote in Colorado elections to stating that “only a citizen” is eligible.

The change made Colorado one of seven states whose constitution explicitly prohibits noncitizens from voting.

Proponents of the amendment said it would prevent any future attempts by the state to grant voting rights to noncitizens, while critics argued it was unnecessary and fueled unwarranted fears about election integrity.

Updated 1 month ago

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