COLORADO SPRINGS — Election Day is almost here, and there are some things you should know so you can successfully cast your ballot this year.
Last week, Colorado voters began receiving their mail-in ballots and already more than 300,000 ballots have been cast. There are several reasons why a mail-in ballot could be rejected.
According to the Bipartisan Policy Center, the rejection rate is much higher for absentee ballots than it is for ballots cast in person. People choosing to vote from home take on more responsibility to make sure their ballot and return envelope are filled out correctly.
The most common mistakes include missing information, missing the deadline to return it, or a mismatched signature. Young people, people of color, and people for whom English is not their first language, and overseas and military voters are more likely to have their ballots rejected because the signature doesn't match.
In an interview with our news partner Newsy, election researchers talked about the ballot rejection rate in 2016.
"In 2016, 99 percent of the ballots were accepted that were returned," said Matthew Weil, Director of the Election Project for the Bipartisan Policy Center. "That leaves one percent. It's not a huge percentage, but when you start multiplying that across the country, that's a lot of ballots."
Voters should pay very close attention to the instructions that come with their mail-in ballot and the return envelope. For more information on how to track your ballot, click here.
