Thanks to Colorado’s mail-in voting system, voter turnout is typically higher—about a 9 percent increase over the old stand-in-line system. Mail-in balloting has helped narrow turnout gaps among Colorado’s diverse demographic groups, resulting in elections more representative of the state’s entire population.

Colorado’s classy “I Voted” symbol, featuring a variety of the state’s outdoor scenes and the state flower, the blue Rocky Mountain Columbine.

The ballot arrived at my mailbox in plenty of time to review the issues and candidates at my convenience. I dropped my completed ballot into a secure drop box. (Or, if I had wanted, I could have mailed in my ballot.)

The next day I received an email stating that my ballot had been received; three days later, I received another email notifying me that my vote had been counted.

One benefit I particularly liked: standing in long waiting lines is no longer needed. I remember several elections before mail-in balloting when I had to stand in line for two hours or more. Mail-in voting was particularly convenient, and potentially life-saving, during the Covid pandemic.

In other states, voting is a struggle: Lines of voters are sometimes blocks long, forcing people to stand out in all types of weather; some people need to take time off work to vote; and, due to restrictions made by certain politicians, volunteers can no longer give bottles of refreshing water to voters standing in line in some states.

Colorado’s voting system is not without challenges, of course. Isolated cases of fraud have happened, but such instances have been rare and aggressively prosecuted.

Overall, it’s the nation’s best voting system, one that deserves high praise and serves as an excellent model for other states.