Colorado has officially cast its 10 electoral votes for Kamala Harris in this year’s presidential election. 

The 10 electors, elected by the Colorado Democratic Party to represent each member of Colorado’s congressional delegation, all voted for Harris and her vice presidential pick, Tim Walz. The Democratic candidates won the state, receiving 54% of Colorado’s vote, but ultimately lost to Donald Trump and his running mate, Ohio Sen. JD Vance.     

Nationally, Harris received a total of 226 electoral votes, while Trump secured 312. 

Gov. Jared Polis and Secretary of State Jena Griswold oversaw the voting and certified the results. Colorado Supreme Court Justice Brian Boatwright also participated. 

Polis addressed the electors with a quote from the late civil rights activist and U.S. Rep. John Lewis: “Your vote is precious. It is the most powerful nonviolent tool we have to create a more perfect union.”

“You are my voice,” he continued. “You are all of our voices. You are the 10 people that actually get to vote on behalf of the entire state of Colorado for the next president of the United States. That’s special. That’s very exciting, and it’s something that you’ll treasure as a memory.”

Polis also spoke of the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, which Colorado joined in 2019. The compact would eliminate the need for an electoral college, instead declaring the candidate who secures the popular vote as the winner in presidential elections. So far, 17 states, plus Washington, D.C., have joined the compact. An additional 61 electoral votes are needed in order for the compact to go into effect.

“I hope it becomes active soon,” Polis said of the compact, adding that several members of Congress have recently announced their desire to propose a constitutional amendment to eliminate the electoral college.

“I personally support that too, but that’s hard,” Polis said. “The interstate compact requires potentially just two more states or one really big state, but a constitutional amendment requires two-thirds of Congress and then three-quarters of the states. But until that happens, our electors here are bound to vote for the candidate that Colorado chose, and it happens to be the candidate I voted for, Kamala Harris.” 

Under the National Popular Vote Interstate Compact, Colorado’s 10 electoral votes would have gone to Trump. 

All electors were required to take an oath stating they would vote for the candidate who won the highest number of votes in the state. (During the certification of the 2016 election, one elector voted for someone other than candidate who carried Colorado). After they were sworn in as electors, they cast their votes for Harris and each document was signed by Griswold.  

Polis also issued a proclamation declaring voters’ approval of 10 ballot measures from the November election.