Dolores County primary ballots to be mailed, voters get return options

Dolores County sample ballots will go out June 8, and residents can return them to the clerk and recorder office or use the drop box at 409 N. Main St. in Dove Creek. With the June 30 primary approaching, the most important rule is simple: vote only one ballot, and make sure it is the one that counts.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold certified the 2026 state primary ballot on May 1. Under state rules, county clerks may begin mailing ballots June 8, and those ballots should start reaching mailboxes in the days after. Dolores County voters who are affiliated with the Democratic, Republican, Libertarian or Unity parties by June 8 will receive only their party’s ballot.

Unaffiliated voters will receive both the Democratic and Republican primary ballots and may request a Unity Party ballot from the county clerk. They can return only one ballot for it to count. The Libertarian Party of Colorado has prohibited unaffiliated voters from taking part in its 2026 primary, and both the Libertarian and Unity primaries contain only one contest.

The rules matter in a county where the clerk and recorder office is the main election hub. Dolores County says that office has served the county since 1881 and handles elections and voter registration from its Dove Creek location at 409 N. Main St., PO Box 58, Dove Creek, CO 81324. The county also says it covers 1,064 square miles, with about 700 people living inside Dove Creek city limits, which makes a mail-ballot system especially important for voters outside town.

The state’s Go Vote Colorado portal points residents to registration updates, mail-ballot status, sample ballots, ballot tracking and curing, and places to return a mail ballot or vote in person. That makes the coming primary more than a routine mailing. It is the point when voters need to confirm their registration, watch for the ballot, and check the return address before the June 30 deadline.

The local ballot picture is still taking shape as well. Unaffiliated candidates have been collecting petition signatures, showing that nomination work is still underway even as ballots are being prepared. The primary rules are also part of a broader statewide fight: Ron Hanks, Scott Bottoms and David Willson filed suit in Denver District Court in May seeking to stop unaffiliated voters from participating in the June primary. In Dolores County, the practical takeaway is narrower and more immediate: watch the mail, know which ballot you can return, and use the Dove Creek office or drop box if you do not want to risk a missed deadline.