Colorado will offer in-person voting behind bars in November

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed a bill into law Friday mandating that election officials bring voting services to county detention centers and jails for statewide general elections.

The statewide program is the first of its kind, as only a handful of prisons around the country currently offer in-person voting to eligible residents.

The implementation of the measure will lead to around 61 jails and detention centers across Colorado offering in-person voting for the November election, according to Jack Todd, a spokesman for the Colorado secretary of state.

While Colorado bars those serving time for felony convictions from voting, it is legal for incarcerated individuals awaiting trial or serving time for a misdemeanor to cast a ballot in the state.

State Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Democrat who sponsored the bill, said lawmakers found that those eligible voters weren't commonly voting due to logistical hurdles behind bars.

“In Colorado, we really pride ourselves on our gold star election system,” Gonzales said. “Yet we realized that there was a group of individuals who weren’t able to fully access the ballot.”

The law requires law enforcement and election officials to offer six hours of in-person voting, and services that make it possible for confined individuals to register to vote. There will also be a way for eligible voters to return mail ballots, should they prefer to cast their ballot that way.

County staff will serve as poll workers, and the legislation also ensures that election officials have access to Department of Corrections data to ensure that those serving time for felony convictions cannot cast a ballot.

Restoring voting rights to the millions of Americans with felony convictions who have completed their