The Independent View: All Mail-In Voting in Colorado

Mail-In voting, a ballot is automatically mailed to every eligible voter (no request or application is necessary), and the state does not use traditional precinct poll sites that offer in-person voting on Election Day.

In Colorado, a new law instituting all-mail elections will receive its first major statewide test as Democratic Sen. Mark Udall looks to stave off a challenge from Republican Rep. Cory Gardner. The Colorado governor's race is also the focus of intense attention, as Democrat John Hickenlooper faces Republican Bob Beauprez. And the Denver suburbs feature a tight congressional race.

Last year, the Democratic controlled legislature passed the all-mail ballot rule, which requires a ballot to be mailed to every registered voter, arguing it would ensure more voter participation. Republicans strongly opposed it, saying it was unnecessary for a state that already has traditionally high turnout. In 2010, about 51% of those eligible to vote cast ballots, among the highest turnout percentages in the country.

Colorado, which mails ballots in mid-October and has been an epicenter for media ad buys this year, joins Washington and Oregon as states with all-mail elections.

"When you know ballots are all by mail, it makes the ground game of a campaign that much more important, because campaigns have to chase those ballots and try to get them turned in," said Eric Sondermann, a Denver-based political analyst.

Moving up the timing of the vote has forced campaigns to change. Ads and arguments that once were saved for right before election day are now unleashed earlier, in many cases. Gardner and Udall went on air with TV ads before Labor Day, rare moves for Colorado campaigns, which have traditionally waited until mid-September, Sondermann said.

Both state parties say they'll adjust to the all-mail rule.

"We'll have a strong get-out-the vote effort to chase ballots, one that rivals a presidential year effort," said Colorado Republican Party Chairman Ryan Call, who noted that the party has opened more than a dozen field offices in the Denver suburbs to target unaffiliated voters, who often decide the outcomes of statewide elections.

Rick Palacio, the state's Democratic chairman, said his party will build off the ground game laid by President Obama, who won the state in 2008 and 2012.

"Everyone has a chance to vote early and encourage others to vote early," Palacio said. "We'll get ballots and drop it off for people. It's as if Nov. 4 is just really a deadline for Coloradans to get in ballots into the clerk and recorder offices."