Election Websites: Colorado

Fact Sheet Read time:
Projects: Election Initiatives & Government Performance Project
Election Websites: Colorado

Return to report home page. 

CO BONE2Researchers assessed state election websites for the Pew Center on the States between May-November 2010, using detailed criteria evaluating the content, lookup tools, and usability. Websites may have changed since they were assessed. See methodology (PDF).

Strengths include:

  • A comprehensive section of information for military and overseas voters—one of the best in the nation—that includes details about how to register, how to obtain and complete the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot, and how to check the status of a voted ballot.
  • Lookup tools that allow voters to view their registration status, polling place location, and status of absentee and provisional ballots.
  • Easy-to-skim home page, with logical organization of links according to relevant topics.
  • Map showing each county and whether it conducts elections at a polling place, completely by mail, and/or at early voting centers.

Recommended improvements include:

  • Improve navigation by including links presented on the home page, highlight the section that users are in, and add “breadcrumbs” to help them determine where they are on the website.
  • Use concise, easy-to-scan text, bullet points and hyperlinks, and make content understandable for low-literacy users by writing at the eighth-grade level or lower.
  • Present important information in HTML rather than PDF documents, which are more difficult to read and search online.
  • Offer a sample ballot lookup tool (22 states offer).
  • Provide a tutorial on how to complete a ballot (38 states offer).
  • Provide more information for people with disabilities, including instructions on how to use accessible voting equipment to cast a ballot (33 states offer), and the availability of TDD or TTY access (33 offer).
  • Offer voting information for hospitalized voters (27 states offer) and residents of long-term-care facilities (25 offer).
  • Offer candidate information, including e-mail (19 states offer), website (20 offer), and telephone (23 offer) contacts; incumbency status (9 offer); statements (6 offer); and occupation (6 offer).
  • Create a consistent location for the website search function on every page and make search results clearer and easier to understand.
  • Offer a dedicated hotline/helpline to the state election office (30 states offer).
  • Provide Web addresses or links to local election officials (34 states offer).

Noteworthy Feature: Colorado's website provides useful information for specific groups in its FAQs, such as the “Homeless Voter FAQ” and the “Voting and Convictions FAQ.”

Initial Quick Fix: Add an overview of important dates for upcoming elections, including registration and absentee voter deadlines (47 states offer).

Summary: Colorado provides above-average voting information content, including four out of five recommended lookup tools, but it is below average in terms of site usability, resulting in a lower overall score.

http://www.sos.state.co.us/pubs/elections/main.html was assessed for content, lookup tools, and usability.

America’s Overdose Crisis
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
Quick View
America’s Overdose Crisis

America’s Overdose Crisis

Sign up for our five-email course explaining the overdose crisis in America, the state of treatment access, and ways to improve care

Sign up
RELATED
Tags
Election administration
Projects
Election Initiatives Government Performance Project
Places
Colorado

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

A person in a boat navigates a white-crested river with tree-lined canyons on either side.

Article

February 6, 2024 Wild Lands in Eastern Colorado Gain Protections
An adult and a child huddle in front of a laptop computer, their faces lit by the screen, with a room and bright windows behind them.

Article

November 27, 2023 Researchers Share How State Grants Boost Broadband Access
A group of teenagers gather in a park with bikes, their silhouettes in high contrast to the cloudy sky behind them.

Article

November 2, 2023 Insights on Brain Development Can Improve Youth Justice

MORE FROM PEW

About a dozen people stand examining large blue bins full of whole fish in a warehouse. Some people are in green clothes, others in blue, and all wear ballcaps. A few hold clipboards. Reducing Risk Strengthens the Seafood Supply Chain
A worker in a seafood market dumps bright orange shrimp from a blue bin onto a bed of ice between a lot of other seafood laid out for sale. Other workers are visible in the background, as are the arms of shoppers placing orders from the other side of the ice bed. Seafood Industry Benefits From Greater Vessel Transparency
An aerial view of a vast wetland, with scattered vegetation visible on sandy islands. In Western Australia, a Conservation Model for the World
A presentation being given by a businesswoman to a group of participants at a business conference. Four Plan Features Can Boost 'Retirement Readiness'
Composite image of modern city network communication concept

Learn the Basics of Broadband from Our Limited Series

Sign up for our four-week email course on Broadband Basics
Quick View

How does broadband internet reach our homes, phones, and tablets? What kind of infrastructure connects us all together? What are the major barriers to broadband access for American communities?

Pills illustration
Pills illustration

What Is Antibiotic Resistance—and How Can We Fight It?

Sign up for our four-week email series The Race Against Resistance.
Quick View
Pills illustration

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria, also known as “superbugs,” are a major threat to modern medicine. But how does resistance work, and what can we do to slow the spread? Read personal stories, expert accounts, and more for the answers to those questions in our four-week email series: Slowing Superbugs.