Monday is last chance to change party affiliation for June 28 primary

Monday is the last day for voters who are affiliated with a political party to change or withdraw their affiliation if they wish to vote in a different party’s primary election June 28, according to the Colorado Secretary of State’s office.

Colorado law allows unaffiliated voters to cast a ballot in one of the two major political parties’ primary election. So, a person who is currently registered as a Democrat but wants to vote in the Republican primary, or vice versa, can do so following one of two paths. They can withdraw their affiliation with a political party and switch to unaffiliated. Alternatively, they can switch their affiliation from one party to the other.

Unaffiliated voters will receive primary ballots for both the Republican and Democrat parties. If they want to vote in the primary, they must choose one party’s ballot and ignore the other.

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“If an unaffiliated voter returns a ballot with more than one political party, the ballot will be rejected and none of the voters will be counted,” the secretary of state’s website said.

Many Colorado counties will mail ballots starting Monday. Voters who are registered with a party will receive that party’s primary ballot. That doesn’t preclude them from changing their affiliation, as long as they do it on Monday.

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Unaffiliated voters will receive a packet containing both ballots. They choose which one they want to vote in, if either.

Eagle County Clerk and Record Regina O’Brien said if a voter changes affiliation on Monday, county clerks make adjustments. For example, if a voter is registered Democrat and they change to Republican, the Democrat ballot that gets mailed to them on Monday will be automatically invalidated. They will receive the Republican ballot in a later mailing.

If a voter changes from a party to unaffiliated Monday, they ignore the ballot that gets mailed Monday and they will get a later mailing with both ballots. They must choose one or the other to participate in, O’Brien said.

To change affiliation, visit GoVoteColorado.gov to update online.

The change in party affiliation is being touted as a tool to use by people working to unseat incumbent Lauren Boebert in the U.S. House of Representatives 3rd District race. Boebert is facing a challenge in the Republican primary from Colorado State Senator Don Coram. Foes of Boebert are urging Democrats to change their affiliation so they can vote for Coram.

However, the Democratic primary features three candidates in the 3rd Congressional District race. They are Soledad Sandoval Tafoya, Alex Walker and Adam Frisch, the sole Aspen candidate in the race.