There’s a difference between Election Night results you see on the news, and certified election results, which take weeks to finalize after each election.
On Election Night you can see results on our website. You might also see them on the website of the Colorado Secretary of State. None of these results are certified, final results. Numbers can vary widely throughout the night as new precincts are counted and votes submitted on Election Day are counted.
The Secretary of State’s Office maintains a website (not official results) to help aggregate votes from across counties in the state. This allows everyone to see results across counties and other jurisdictional boundaries. We upload election results throughout the night to this website. It is not an official record of results nor is it connected to the secure county voting systems. It is maintained so voters don’t need to check 64 county websites to determine who is winning a statewide race on Election Night.
We spend weeks after the election ensuring that every vote cast was counted and counted accurately. State law ensures voters can correct issues with their ballots for eight days following each election. We also wait eight days to ensure every member of the military and oversea voters, who voted through the mail, have their vote counted. All of these processes continue to change vote totals for days after each Election Night. Secure totals are always, and only, held at the county level.
Results released on Election Night are posted as “unofficial.” This is due to military and oversea ballots that are afforded extra time for delivery after Election Day. Also voters with signature or identification issues are given time to resolve issues. Voters in those categories have eight days after the election to resolve their issue or return their ballot.
