Voters can drop off a mail-in ballot at a 24-hour box, or can visit a voting center to vote in-person. (Courtesy of Nathan Thompson)
Alexia: Hi! I’m Alexia Bailey, a sophomore here at CU Boulder. While I may just be in my second year, I’m here to share everything I’ve picked up so far, which is a surprising amount of information. “What’s Eating at Alexia” is my unofficial and unfiltered guide to some of the things that being a CU Boulder Buff brings. Think of it as your guide to navigating everything that makes CU Boulder, well, CU Boulder. Whether you’re a freshman finding your footing or a senior with “no body, no crime” level grievances about finals week, I’m here to share my takes, tips and honest observations on everything from the sometimes-unpredictable Buff Bus system to navigating campus protests (or dodging them entirely). College is a wild, unforgettable ride, and “What’s eating at Alexia” is here to make sense of some of it, one opinion at a time.
We are T-minus one day left in the polls here, folks.
And before you start using that whiny, grating, agitating voice at me, asking, “Why should I bother voting in an off-year?” I, your favorite political science and journalism major, have answers for you.
Voting in local city and county elections is extremely vital to being a member of a community. As a person living in the United States, I’m sure that you’ve heard that it is your civic duty to vote. In order for us as a democracy to succeed, we must do our part of the bargain. And well, they’re not wrong. Local elections decide the things that actually touch your daily life: housing, transportation, public safety, education, climate policy, and whether that construction on your favorite street ever actually ends. The people you elect now are the ones setting budgets, enforcing laws and shaping the future of your city long before anyone in Washington even reads the memo.
In the state of Colorado, you can register to vote and vote on the same day. According to the Secretary of State’s website, you may register to vote online at GoVoteColorado.gov. In order to do this, you need a valid Colorado driver’s license or state-issued ID card from the Colorado Department of Revenue, or by providing the last four digits of your Social Security number. If you are an out-of-state student, you can choose whether to register to vote in your hometown or to change your registration here. However, many students choose not to do this because if you are registered to vote in Colorado, you are considered a Colorado resident, which can make taxes funky. So maybe talk to your parents before making the switch.
If you are registered to vote in Boulder County, you should’ve either received a ballot by mail that you can drop off at a designated drop-off location, or you can go in person to a voting location. If you are looking to drop off your ballot on the way to class, there are ballot drop-off boxes near the Williams Village Bus Loop and in front of the University Memorial Center. You can no longer mail in your ballot. For your vote to count, all 2025 Coordinated Election ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day, which is on Tuesday.
Skipping an election because it’s an “off year” is like skipping every practice and still expecting to win the championship. Democracy doesn’t just happen every four years when the presidential debates start trending; it happens right now, in your county, with names you might not even recognize (yet).
And let’s be real; complaining about rent prices, bad roads or unfair policies means nothing if you don’t take ten minutes to fill out a ballot. You don’t get to call the system broken if you refuse to use the one tool that gives you a say in fixing it. So yes, it’s an off year. But it’s your year to make a mark on the place you live. Drop off that ballot, show up at the polls and prove that civic engagement doesn’t take an election cycle off.
Because if you don’t vote, someone else will, and they’ll be the ones deciding what “your” community looks like next year.
Contact CU Independent Opinion Editor Alexia Bailey at alexia.bailey@colorado.edu
