With less than two weeks left before ballots are due in Colorado’s primary election, election officials have logged in ballots from just under 6% of the state’s 4 million active, registered voters, the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said Thursday.

As of noon Wednesday, county clerks reported receiving 230,436 ballots, with ballots cast in the Democratic primary outpacing those cast in the Republican primary, according to a daily update.

Primary ballots started going out to most state voters on June 8. They’re due back to county clerks by 7 p.m. June 30.

Democratic ballots have been arriving at a heavier rate than Republicans’ have, though the vast bulk of the ballots cast by unaffiliated voters have yet to be processed, so their eventual distribution is unknown.

Both major parties’ primaries feature hotly contested races at the top of the ticket, including for governor and attorney general, as well as congressional, legislative and county races across the state.

The ballots received in Thursday’s report included 87,790 cast in the Democratic primary and 70,145 cast in the Republican primary. Another 71,701 ballots from unaffiliated voters — who can cast a ballot in either major parties’ primary — are awaiting processing.

In addition, 753 ballots have been received from Libertarians, whose party is holding a primary for secretary of state and 47 ballots from Unity Party members, who can vote in their party’s gubernatorial primary.

While nearly 85% of the ballots cast by unaffiliated voters have yet to be processed, at this point more than twice as many unaffiliated voters have voted in the Democratic primary as have in the GOP primary. Of the unaffiliated voters whose ballots have gone into the system, 9,225 are in the Democratic primary, with 4,398 cast in the Republicans’ primary.

In the race for the office held by term-limited Democratic Gov. Jared Polis, U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet is going up against Attorney General Phil Weiser in the Democratic primary, while the Republican primary features a three-way race between state Sen. Barb Kirkmeyer, R-Brighton, state Rep. Scott Bottoms, R-Colorado Springs, and ministry leader Victor Marx.

Both parties also have primaries to replace the term-limited Weiser as attorney general. Democrats running are Secretary of State Jena Griswold, Boulder District Attorney Michael Dougherty, former federal prosecutor Hetal Doshi and workers rights attorney David Seligman. The GOP candidates are 4th Judicial District Attorney Michael Allen and Colorado Springs-based lawyer David Willson.

Statewide, Democratic U.S. Sen. John Hickenlooper is facing a challenge from state Sen. Julie Gonzales, D-Denver, and two Democrats — state Sen. Jessie Danielson, D-Wheat Ridge, and Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Amanda Gonzales — are vying for the secretary of state nomination.

New this year, unaffiliated voters who want to vote in the tiny Unity Party’s primary can contact their county clerk to receive the minor party’s ballot, though if they do, they won’t be able to vote in either the Democratic or Republican primary. The Libertarian primary is closed, with only registered members of the party able to participate.

Election experts caution against spotting trends or drawing conclusions from early ballot return data, since some larger clerks’ offices have yet to staff up ahead of the anticipated crush closer to the election and other clerks process returns at different speeds.

Through noon Wednesday, voters in El Paso and Jefferson counties had returned the most ballots, with each county reporting just over 28,000 ballots received. Denver and Arapahoe counties weren’t far behind, with more than 21,000 ballots received in each.

Election officials caution against reading too much into what is a very preliminary report because county clerks process returned ballots on different schedules, with some smaller counties waiting until closer to the election to begin processing and sorting ballots.

By June 22, voting centers for in-person voting will be open in every county, and by June 23, the state’s full complement of 437 drop boxes will be available. Voters can look up voting and drop box locations, opening dates and hours at govotecolorado.com. Coloradans can also visit the site to update their registration, review sample ballots and find out more information about voting.