Colorado voter turnout for this year鈥檚 election surpassed the historical level set in 2008. Counties are continuing to update final results from Tuesday鈥檚 election.
But so far, the reports 46,000 more Coloradans voted in 20012 than did four years ago.
Colorado鈥檚 Republican Secretary of State Scott Gessler credits much of the boost in turnout to a mailing sent out earlier this year to 700,000 Coloradans who may have been eligible to vote but were not yet registered.
That mailing was part of a voter registration initiative organized by Gessler鈥檚 office this year. The $850,000 initiative was funded with federal money expressly designated for voter education efforts. It was the largest in the state鈥檚 history.
The outreach campaign included television, radio, print and online ads. It led to 400,000 more registered Colorado voters in 2012 compared to 2008.
Many Colorado voters registered using the state鈥檚 upgraded online voter registration system through their computers, phones or tablets. In 2008, 2,422,236 Coloradans voted.
- All registered voters: 3,647,082
- Ballots Counted: 2,468,312
- Voter Turnout: 67.68%
Voter turnout wasn't just up domestically. There was an 11 percent surge in participation from Colorado鈥檚 military and overseas voters. In 2008, Colorado received 13,029 overseas ballots compared to 14,500 for this year鈥檚 election.
