Election results > 2018 Abstract home

About the format of this abstract

Results contained in the abstract

This publication contains the official certified results for the 2018 Primary and 2018 General Elections for all candidates, judicial retention races, and ballot issues certified to the ballot by the Colorado Secretary of State's Office.

Results & officer information reported by the counties

The election results and county officer information in this abstract were obtained from each of Colorado’s 64 counties. The results in this abstract are more accurate than the compiled and totaled returns reported on the Secretary of State’s website immediately after the election because they account for any miscalculations in the totals initially reported by each county.

Judicial officer information

Judicial officer information, including dates of oath and terms of office, was provided by the Office of the State Court Administrator.

Registered voters, ballots cast, & turnout

In the results section of this abstract, the column titled “Registered Voters” is the number of registered voters eligible to vote in each contest. The column titled “Ballots Cast” is the number of voters who cast a ballot in each contest. The column titled “Turnout %” reflects the percentage of registered voters who cast a ballot in each contest.

The county-level turnout, located at the back of the abstract, is provided using both active voters and registered voters. Colorado statute currently requires that county-level turnout be reported by registered voters. However, prior to 2011, statute required that turnout be reported by active voters. To allow comparison of turnout data throughout the years, we have chosen to provide the turnout data for both active and registered voters.

Recent changes in Colorado law

In 2016, Colorado voters approved citizen initiatives Proposition 108 and Amendment 71.

Proposition 108 allowed unaffiliated voters to participate in Colorado state primary elections for the first time. Because of this influx of new voters, the turnout percentage for the 2018 primary election is almost double compared to the 2016 primary election.

Amendment 71 raised the passage threshold from a simple majority to 55% for statewide ballot issues that add language to the state constitution. To avoid confusion over whether a ballot issue has passed or failed, each ballot issue is labeled Passed or Failed in the header, for example, “Amendment V (CONSTITUTIONAL)—FAILED”.