Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold Highlights Election Results Reporting Process for the 2022 General Election

Denver, November 4, 2022 - Today, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold is highlighting the process of counting ballots and reporting results, including how and when ballots are counted and when to expect unofficial results reporting on Election Night, November 8, 2022.

“Election night results are not final results in Colorado,” said Secretary Griswold. “After election day, ballots continue to be counted, military and oversees voters return their ballots, signature discrepancies can be fixed, and bipartisan audits are conducted to confirm the results – there is quite a bit of activity that occurs after Election Day!”

While counties began processing ballots before Election Day, initial results will not be reported until after polls close at 7 p.m. on November 8. When polls officially close at 7 p.m., counties will begin uploading results to the state’s centralized Election Night Reporting system. The link to those results are posted on the Colorado Secretary of State’s website, including on the home page and www.GoVoteColorado.gov. 

In Colorado, results are not reported based on the manner in which ballots are cast. However, as counties can start reviewing signatures once ballots are received and begin processing ballots for scanning 15 days before Election Day, early in-person ballots and mail ballots received before Election Day will likely be scanned prior to in-person and mail ballots received on Election Day.

The biggest variable impacting reporting unofficial results is the number of Coloradans who vote (either early in-person or return their mail ballot via mail, drop box or in person) in advance of Election Day relative to those who return their ballot or vote in-person on Election Day.

In addition to using Colorado’s Election Night Reporting system, counties may post results to their websites but are not required to do so. Note that if a court extends polling hours in any county, results will not be posted by the Secretary of State’s Office until polls are closed in every county.

As counties continue to upload results periodically through the night, you can track progress by referencing the color-coded status that are used in the “counties reporting” map to indicate at what point they are in the process.  Yellow indicates that a county has reported results at least once, and as they continue to tabulate ballots, they will update results periodically throughout the night. Lavender means that a county has stopped tabulating for election night but does not indicate that all ballots have been tabulated, as they will continue to update results in the following days. Green indicates that all eligible ballots have been tabulated, and dark orange indicates results have been certified as official. 

For more information on election dates and deadlines, please visit www.GoVoteColorado.gov.