Ballot return figures released by the Secretary of State this morning show Republicans holding onto their early voting lead, though the gap is shrinking. The GOP now leads Democrats in ballots returned by 2.6%. Independents continue to grow their share of the early vote, now up to 26.7% of the electorate.
Total ballots cast as of November 2: 1,462,163
R – 547,150 (37.4%)
D – 509,091 (34.8%)
U – 390,875 (26.7%)
The full county-by-county breakdown based on party registration is available here.
In the three major swing counties of Colorado, Republicans continue to hold a steady and significant lead. In Jefferson County, home to numerous competitive legislative races and the hard-fought 7th Congressional District, Republicans retain a lead of 6,616. In Larimer County their lead is 6,356, while in Arapahoe it’s 1,933.
Recent polling in Colorado has a conflicted view of the race, with Rasmussen showing Romney up three and CNN showing Obama up two.
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Check out previous ballot return reports from Nov. 1, Oct. 31, Oct. 30, Oct. 29, Oct. 26, Oct. 25, Oct. 24, and Oct. 23.