I just moved within the same county, can I still vote? (Colorado)

October 17, 2012 7:38 PM

I was registered to vote in Weld county in 2008. Earlier this month I moved a few miles away to a town that happens to be in Weld county (Firestone, Co to Frederick, Co). Can I still vote in the 2012 election? Do I need to change any information before I vote?
posted by snow_mac to law & government (8 answers total)

You can check here to make sure you are currently registered and where you are registered. You can also update information there if you need to. Worst case you can vote in your old location. Here is the voting FAQ for Colorado.
posted by jessamyn at 7:41 PM on October 17, 2012

It is not legal to vote in Colorado unless you have lived in your current precinct for at least 30 days before the election. That means that you must have moved on or before Sunday, 6 November 2012.

You can change your address online here until 30 October.
posted by saeculorum at 7:47 PM on October 17, 2012

Here is a link to a map of precincts in Weld County. It is possible you did not move between precincts, in which case I don't think the 30 day restriction would apply.
posted by saeculorum at 7:51 PM on October 17, 2012 [1 favorite]

Worst case you can vote in your old location.

This is plainly criminal, don't do it.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 8:39 PM on October 17, 2012

Frederick and Firestone are different towns, and at the very least the ballot will have different local (mayor, for example) races on it.
posted by Confess, Fletch at 8:43 PM on October 17, 2012

I suspect that the 30-days residency requirement (Mon, Oct 8) is for first-time registration, but you should just call or e-mail the Weld County Clerk and ask.
posted by gingerest at 9:14 PM on October 17, 2012

This is plainly criminal, don't do it.


Why don't we ask the actual law what to do before declaring what's criminal and trying to disenfranchise people by spreading this uninformed, plainly absurd malarkey? You don't automagically lose your right to vote because of an ill-timed move, and even a flippant suggestion that the OP cannot cast a ballot is contemptible on its face.

If you moved before 30 days out from an election, the following section applies. You go in person or mail a change of address form to the Weld County Clerk by the seventh day before the election, and state that you lived at your new place more than 30 days out. Then you vote at your new precinct.

1-2-216. Change of residence.
[...]
(4) (a) For the twenty-eight days before and on the day of any election, any eligible elector, by appearing in person at the office of the clerk and recorder of the county in which the elector resides or by submitting by mail a change of address form that is received by the county clerk and recorder no later than the close of business on the seventh day before any election, may complete a change of address form stating, under penalty of perjury, that the elector moved no later than the thirtieth day before the election and that, on the day of the election, the elector will have lived at the new address in the new precinct for at least thirty days. Upon the receipt of the request, the county clerk and recorder shall verify the registration of the elector and, upon verification, if the elector does not choose to vote at the time the request is verified, shall issue or authorize a certificate of registration showing the information required in section 1-2-215 plus the change of address; except that the county shall only be required to issue or authorize a certificate of registration in accordance with the provisions of this paragraph (a) where it has printed its pollbooks.
(b) The election judges shall allow the registered elector to vote in the precinct where the new address is located. The election judges shall use the certificate of registration as a substitute registration record, entering the date of the election and pollbook ballot number on the certificate and including it with the registration book when it is returned to the county clerk and recorder following the election.
(c) If the request is received by the county clerk and recorder on or after the time early voting has begun, the elector may vote at the time the change of address request is received. The elector may also vote by mail-in ballot if the ballots have been prepared. If the request is received on the election day, the elector may, at the discretion of the county clerk and recorder, vote in the office of the county clerk and recorder rather than voting in the precinct where the new address is located.

If you moved after 30 days out, guess what? You can vote at your old precinct and it isn't "plainly criminal", or vote by mail or early in Weld County.

1-2-217. Change in residence after close of registration. (1) Notwithstanding the provisions of subsection (2) of this section and sections 1-2-101 and 1-2-102, an elector who moves from the precinct where registered during the twenty-nine days before any election shall be permitted to cast a ballot at the election by one of the following methods: At the polling place for the precinct where registered, by a mail-in ballot, or by early voting. (2) Any eligible elector who moves from the precinct in which the elector is registered to some other precinct in the state after the time during which registration is permitted may return to the precinct of registration and vote on the day of any election and sign a change of residence form. The form shall include a printed statement of the penalty for anyone who votes by knowingly giving false information.
posted by Hollywood Upstairs Medical College at 10:13 PM on October 17, 2012 [11 favorites]

Voter registration is managed at the county level. Early voting starts 10/22/12 in Colorado. Report to the office of the Supervisor of Elections on or after 10/22/12, present your identification, and be prepared to vote on that day at that time in that office. They will update your voter registration to the new address on the spot for future use. You even get an, "I VOTED" sticker.

Much more convenient than schlepping to the polls on Election Day anyway, and you don't have to put up with a one-day paid temporary poll watcher doing their interpretive dance of your voting rights.
posted by halfbuckaroo at 3:40 AM on October 18, 2012