DENVER – The early-voting lead for Colorado Democrats has all-but disappeared just four days before Election Day.

Registered Republicans again Thursday narrowed the gap between the number of ballots they have submitted so far and the number of votes submitted by Democrats.

As of Thursday morning, the gap was 14,000 votes. But as of Friday morning, Democrats have only submitted about 7,000 more than Republicans.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office updates the number of ballots returned via mail and votes made in-person each day, and breaks down the votes by which party each person who submitted a ballot is registered for.

Every ballot is categorized by each voter’s registration and does not say how a person voted. Colorado law allowed county clerks to start counting ballots on Oct. 24.

The county clerk’s offices open the ballots, check their signatures to validate them, and scan the results. However, the results will not be tallied or released until after the polls close on Nov. 8.

Though Democrats have led the voting tally since ballots first started being tallied on Oct. 24, they submitted fewer ballots Thursday than Republicans and unaffiliated voters for the first time in the early-voting period.

Democrats submitted 45,402 votes Thursday, compared to 45,992 from unaffiliated voters and 53,018 from Republicans.

Early ballot submissions statewide amount to 1,553,325 as of Friday morning – approximately 47.5 of the state’s electorate.

In the last presidential election in 2012, 71 percent of Coloradans voted. Republicans led the early vote throughout that period before a late surge by Democrats, though this election is the first presidential election in which Colorado has used an all-mail-in ballot system.

The percentage of registered Republicans who have already voted (53.1 percent) is also now nearly-identical to the percentage of Democrats who have voted (53.25 percent). Of unaffiliated voters, 37.6 percent have already submitted ballots.

Unaffiliated voters represent Colorado’s largest voting electorate, with 1.14 million registered voters as of Nov. 1.

Four of the counties Denver7 is keeping an eye on have already equaled or topped 50 percent voter turnout: Boulder County (50 percent); Douglas County (50.4 percent); Jefferson County (51 percent) and La Plata County (53.3 percent).

A higher percentage of registered Republicans than Democrats have now voted in Adams, Arapahoe, El Paso and Weld counties. Democrats continue to have higher turnout in Boulder, Denver, Douglas, Jefferson, La Plata and Larimer counties.

A poll released Wednesday by the University of Denver showed Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in a dead heat in a four-way race.

And a Magellan Strategies poll released Thursday shows Clinton leads Trump by six points, 44-38 percent.

That comes as both campaigns have entered full-court press mode in Colorado – sending either themselves or a pool of surrogates to the state in the final week before Election Day.

DENVER – A week out from Election Day, more than 1 million Colorado voters have already cast their ballot, and registered Democrats continue to buck the state’s early-voting trends.

Republicans have traditionally showed up in higher numbers during Colorado’s early voting period, but Democrats continue to mail and turn in their ballots in larger numbers so far this year.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office updates the number of ballots returned via mail and votes made in-person each day, and breaks down the votes by which party each person who submitted a ballot is registered for.

Every ballot is categorized by each voter’s registration and does not say how a person voted. Colorado law allowed county clerks to start counting ballots on Oct. 24.

The county clerk’s offices open the ballots, check their signatures to validate them, and scan the results. However, the results will not be tallied or released until after the polls close on Nov. 8.

Though Republicans out-voted Democrats in ballots returned Monday, active registered Democrats still hold a voting lead of nearly 28,000 over Republicans and have submitted more than 117,000 ballots than registered unaffiliated voters – the state’s largest registered electorate.

The numbers released by the Secretary of State’s Office Tuesday show more than 1 million ballots have already been returned, amounting to 33 percent of the 3.27 million active registered voters statewide.

In the last presidential election in 2012, Colorado saw a 71 percent voter turnout, though this is the first presidential election in Colorado that has utilized an all mail-in ballot system.

Monday saw the highest number of ballots submitted so far (201,017) since the Secretary of State’s Office started counting them Oct. 24.

Republicans won the day’s tally in ballots submitted Monday, turning in 71,471 ballots, compared to 68,188 returns by Democrats and 58,305 returns by unaffiliated voters.

The Secretary of State’s Office also released new voter registration numbers Tuesday. The Denver Clerk and Recorder’s Office released the tally as of Oct. 27 last week.

The latest numbers show unaffiliated voters continue to be the largest electorate in Colorado, with 1,140,909 active registered voters. Democrats are the next highest, with 1,040,948 active registered voters. Republicans make up the third-largest electorate, with 1,031,512 active registered voters.

Between the Oct. 27 rally and the count released Tuesday, an additional 15,615 voters registered as unaffiliated; an additional 13,421 registered as Republicans and 9,533 more people registered as Democrats in Colorado.

About 38.3 percent of active Democrats have now voted, compared to 36 percent of active Republicans and 24.7 percent of unaffiliated voters.

DENVER – Early voting numbers for registered Colorado Republicans surged Wednesday, as they closed what had been a 23,000-vote gap between them and registered Democrats by 9,000 votes, according to numbers released Thursday morning.

Republicans now sit just more than 14,000 votes behind registered Democrats in the state, and unaffiliated voters had one of their most active days Wednesday as well, submitting 63,065 ballots.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office updates the number of ballots returned via mail and votes made in-person each day, and breaks down the votes by which party each person who submitted a ballot is registered for.

Every ballot is categorized by each voter’s registration and does not say how a person voted. Colorado law allowed county clerks to start counting ballots on Oct. 24.

The county clerk’s offices open the ballots, check their signatures to validate them, and scan the results. However, the results will not be tallied or released until after the polls close on Nov. 8.

Nearly 43 percent of current active registered voters have now submitted ballots in Colorado, though people in the Centennial State are allowed to registered to vote up to Election Day. The most-recent voter registration statistics were released Nov. 1.

In the 2012 presidential election, Colorado had a voter turnout of 70.9 percent – though that election didn’t utilize a mostly mail-in ballot system, as does this year’s.

Colorado Democrats continue to hold an overall lead in early voting. Of the votes submitted so far, 36.2 percent have been from registered Democrats; 35.2 percent are from registered Republicans, and 27.3 percent are from unaffiliated voters – Colorado’s largest electorate.

When comparing the number of votes submitted by each party so far to the number of people registered for each party, Democrats also hold an overall lead.

Of registered Democrats, 48.9 percent have voted already; 48 percent of registered Republicans have voted; and 33.6 percent of unaffiliated voters have cast a ballot.

Some of Colorado’s “counties to watch” also saw notable shifts in early voting Wednesday. The percentage of active Republicans who have voted in Arapahoe and Weld counties overtook the percentage of active Democrats to have already submitted a ballot.

The number of votes submitted by each major party in Jefferson and Larimer counties remained nearly identical.

A poll released Wednesday by the University of Denver showed Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump in a dead heat in a four-way race. That comes as both campaigns have entered full-court press mode in Colorado – sending either themselves or a pool of surrogates to the state in the final week before Election Day.

DENVER – It’s no secret that the two major candidates for president this election are viewed as among the most unfavorable in the history of elections.

When averaging favorable/unfavorable polls, about 53.4 percent see Democrat Hillary Clinton unfavorably, while an average of 59 percent of people polled view Republican nominee Donald Trump as unfavorable, according to Real Clear Politics.

Libertarian candidate Gary Johnson and Green Party candidate Jill Stein are the two other most-talked about third-party candidates in this election, but some view Johnson as having a lack of knowledge on foreign affairs and others have criticized Stein’s lack of political experience as reasons they shouldn’t deserve votes for president.

But if you’re a Colorado voter with a bad taste in your mouth regarding the major candidates, know that there are other options out there.

Aside from Clinton, Trump, Johnson and Stein, there are 18 other candidates for president on Colorado’s ballot, and six other candidates who have qualified to be write-in candidates on Colorado ballots (and no, you can’t write in Mike Pence, as some have suggested, or John McCain, as John Kasich did when he voted Monday.)

Here’s a short rundown of each candidate:

1. DARRELL L. CASTLE

Darrell Castle is a Memphis-based lawyer running on the American Constitution Party ticket and was nominated by the party in April. Among the positions he favors on various issues are: withdrawing from the United Nations; putting an end to the Federal Reserve; anti-abortion; and removing federal oversight in local planning and development programs.

2. FRANK ATWOOD

Frank Atwood is running on the Approval Voting Party ticket. He is a veteran of Colorado elections: he ran for the CO-1 U.S. House seat in 2014 as a Libertarian, getting 3.3 percent of the vote. In 2012, he ran for the same seat as a Libertarian, getting 3.6 percent of the vote that time. Democrat Diana DeGette won both of those elections.

3. ”ROCKY” ROQUE DE LA FUENTE

Roque De La Fuente is running on the American Delta Party ticket. He is running for president after losing in the Democratic primary for Florida’s U.S. Senate seat to Patrick Murphy. The real estate developer from California supports renewable energy infrastructure development, a focus on education and stopping the U.S. from acting as a “global police force.”

4. JAMES HEDGES

James “Jim” Hedges is running on the Prohibition Party ticket. The Pennsylvania tax assessor tried to get the Prohibition Party’s nomination in 2012, but lost to Jack Fellure. Hedges was initially Greg Seltzer’s likely running mate before Seltzer withdrew and Hedges claimed the nomination. The party was founded to oppose the sale or consumption of alcohol, but was also among the first to support women’s suffrage rights.

5. TOM HOEFLING

Tom Hoefling is running on the America’s Party ticket. The Nebraska native most-recently ran for governor of Iowa in 2014, where he lost to Terry Branstad in the Republican primary by a 83 to 16.8 percent vote. Hoefling opposes Affirmative Action, the Affordable Care Act, renewable energy and supports making religion a part of government and eliminating clean air and water rights.

6. CHRIS KENISTON

Chris Keniston is running on the Veterans Party of America ticket. He is a former U.S. Air Force airman who currently lives in Texas. A former officer of the party, he fell into the nomination after the rest of the party decided not to choose the other candidates. His focus centers on increased military spending and border security, as well as making living-wage jobs more accessible for people.

7. ALYSON KENNEDY

Alyson Kennedy is running on the Socialist Workers Party ticket. She had previously run as the vice presidential candidate on the party’s 2008 ticket. She has been a member of socialist parties since the early ‘70s. The party’s focus remains on low-income workers and fighting against poor living and working conditions.

8. KYLE KENLEY KOPITKE

Dr. Kyle Kenley Kopitke is running on the Independent American Party ticket. He is a former member of the U.S. Army and touts his military experience as reason for why he’s ready to be president. He has a strong focus on national security and foreign policy.

9. LAURENCE KOTLIKOFF

Laurence Kotlikoff is running on the Kotlikoff for President ticket. He is an economist based at Boston University whose focus is on public finance. He tried to run for president in 2012 as well. His primary focus is on economic issues: he proposes the FairTax replace the federal tax code, has talked about transforming LLCs into mutual funds, and would do away with federal and employer-based health care plans, replacing them with a voucher for each American adjusted by their wellness.

10. GLORIA ESTELA LA RIVA

Gloria Estela La Riva is running on the Socialism and Liberation Party ticket. Born in Albuquerque, New Mexico, La Riva ran for president in 1992 and 2008. She also was a vice presidential candidate for the Workers World Party in 1984, ’88, ’96 and 2000. The party’s main aim is to do away with capitalist policies and putting lower-class people and workers first.

11. BRADFORD LYTTLE

Bradford Lyttle is running on the Nonviolent Resistance/Pacificst Party ticket. The 88-year-old has long been an activist and organizer of pro-peace events and founded the U.S. Pacifist Part. Lyttle was on the Colorado presidential ballot in 2008 and received 110 votes. He ran as a write-in candidate in 1984, 1996 and 2000.

12. JOSEPH ALLEN MALDONADO

Joseph Allen Maldonado, also known as “Joe Exotic,” is running on the Independent People ticket. His website says the “affordable care act [sic] is a joke,” but that the for-profit health care system is “broken.” It says he wants to model his system after “Canda [sic]” and that people have the right to “bare arms [sic]” under the Second Amendment.

13.MICHAEL A. MATUREN

Michael A. Maturen is running on the American Solidarity Party ticket. The Michigan salesman is opposed to abortion and capital punishment and has Christian-based beliefs.

14. EVAN MCMULLIN

Evan McMullin is running unaffiliated and is considered to be the third most-popular non-major party candidate in the 2016 election. He is a former Republican who was the chief policy director for the House Republican Conference and is a former CIA officer. His campaign was launched on the basis that it was a conservative alternative to Republicans who didn’t want to vote for Donald Trump. He hopes that a tie in the Electoral College would send the matter to the House, thus giving him a possibility of receiving the favorable vote from representatives opposed to Trump or Clinton. McMullin is pro-life, supports NAFTA and the TPP, and is a believer in climate change.

15. RYAN ALAN SCOTT

Ryan Alan Scott is running as an independent in the General Election. He raised the $1,000 necessary to get on Colorado’s ballot through an IndieGoGo campaign. “I could go through my political ideas, but that’s pointless – this is just for fun and I’m not going to win,” Scott, a freelance writer and pastor, wrote on the IndieGoGo campaign site.

16. ROD SILVA

Rod Silva is running on the Nutrition Party ticket. He is a restaurateur from New Jersey and is the son of Brazilian Immigrants. His restaurant focuses on healthy foods, and his primary reason for running for president is to focus on America’s obesity rates and other health problems that stem from poor nutrition.

17. MIKE SMITH

Mike Smith is a Colorado Springs-based attorney running as an independent. He was a White House intern in 2006 and has aligned his policies with the classic Republican policies of Ronald Reagan. His website says he opposes “radical Islamic terrorism” and wants to ensure Second Amendment rights and national defense.

18. EMIDIO SOLTYSIK

Emidio “Mimi” Soltysik is running on the Socialist Party USA ticket. He has served as either vice chair or co-chair of the party since 2011 and was nominated as the party’s choice for president this year.

19. BRUCE LOHMILLER (WRITE-IN)

Bruce Lohmiller is a write-in candidate running on the Green and Democratic Party ticket. He is from Grand Junction.

20. THOMAS J. NIEMAN (WRITE-IN)

Thomas J. Nieman is running as an independent/Libertarian. He is a commercial real estate agent.

21. COREY STERNER (WRITE-IN)

Corey Sterner is running as an independent/on the Republican ticket. He has dabbled in being a write-in candidate before, but says he is “apathetic” about American politics over the past two years, though his blog shows he has equal dislike for Democrats and Donald Trump.

22. DAVID PERRY (WRITE-IN)

David Perry is a write-in candidate on the Republican ticket. He is a former Marine and police officer who now lives in Tennessee after years in his native California. His website says the president should not condemn law enforcement and that he wants to reduce the national debt and control government spending.

23. BRIAN ANTHONY PERRY (WRITE-IN)

Brian Anthony Perry is running as an independent write-in candidate. His Facebook page has all you’d need to know about him: “#Iam Brian Perry you can find more about me by Googling Perry B. Anthony. #Iam not like other Presidential Candidates. I smoke weed and speak the truth.”

24. CHERUNDA FOX (WRITE-IN)

Cherunda Fox is running as an independent write-in candidate. She wants to issue $400,000 to each person who can prove an ancestor was a slave, which would be used for investments and home buying. She promises to pay off the national debt by 2025 and institute a regional minimum wage.

So there you have it folks: if you don’t like the main candidates, there are plenty more out there! Most of them are serious about their issues; some are not. But that’s the beauty of democracy — vote for who you want to vote for.

DENVER – For the first day since ballot return numbers started being counted on Monday, Colorado Republicans returned more ballots Thursday than Colorado Democrats.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office updates the number of ballots returned via mail and votes made in-person each day, and breaks down the votes by which party each person who submitted a ballot is registered for.

Every ballot is categorized by each voter’s registration and does not say how a person voted. Colorado law allowed county clerks to start counting ballots on Oct. 24.

The county clerk’s offices open the ballots, check their signatures to validate them, and scan the results. However, the results will not be tallied or released until after the polls close on Nov. 8.

Registered Republicans returned 45,668 ballots Thursday, about 1,500 more than Colorado’s registered Democrats, who submitted 44,152.

Unaffiliated voters, who make up the largest voter base in Colorado, submitted 33,359 ballots Thursday.

The 697,414 votes submitted so far represent around 21.6 percent of Colorado’s active registered electorate. In the last presidential election, in 2012, Colorado had a voter turnout of 71 percent.

When one compares the number of votes submitted by each party so far to the number of active registered voters in each party, trends continue to show that Democrats are voting early in higher percentages than their Republican or unaffiliated counterparts.

The 269,066 Democratic votes submitted so far represent 26.1 percent of the party’s state electorate; about 23.8 percent of registered Republicans have voted thus far; and approximately 15.8 percent of unaffiliated voters have already voted.

Those percentages differ from the latest Colorado voter registration numbers, which were updated by the Denver Clerk and Recorder on Oct. 27.

Wondering what #Colorado statewide #VoterRegistration numbers look like? #election2016 Here’s Active Voter stats as of 10/27: pic.twitter.com/lZwMJoiuBR

— Denver Elections (@DenverElections) October 28, 2016

That count showed there were 1,125,294 registered unaffiliated voters in Colorado; 1,031,415 registered Democrats and 1,018,091 Republicans registered in the state.

The updated numbers from the Denver Clerk and Recorder, when compared with the numbers last posted by the Secretary of State’s Office on Oct. 3, show an additional 32,570 people have registered as Democrats in Colorado over the time period, as have 25,147 Republicans and 44,856 unaffiliated voters.

Colorado Democrats maintain a voting lead of around 28,000 over Republicans, the next highest-voting party thus far.

DENVER – As the presidential candidates and their surrogates continue their last-minute campaign pushes in Colorado, early voting numbers show unaffiliated voters continue to lag behind their Democratic and Republican counterparts in ballot submissions.

Republicans continued to narrow the voting gap between them and Democrats Tuesday, however, submitting more than 4,000 more ballots than active Democrats, according to Wednesday’s numbers.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office updates the number of ballots returned via mail and votes made in-person each day, and breaks down the votes by which party each person who submitted a ballot is registered for.

Every ballot is categorized by each voter’s registration and does not say how a person voted. Colorado law allowed county clerks to start counting ballots on Oct. 24.

The county clerk’s offices open the ballots, check their signatures to validate them, and scan the results. However, the results will not be tallied or released until after the polls close on Nov. 8.

Though Democrats still hold a voting lead of just more than 23,000 ballots over Republicans, they have outvoted unaffiliated voters – Colorado’s largest group of voters – by about 123,000. Republicans hold a 100,000-vote lead over unaffiliated voters so far.

There are 1,140,909 active unaffiliated voters in Colorado, but only 28 percent have voted so far. That pales in comparison to the 42.6 percent of active Democrats and 40.8 percent of active Republicans who have already submitted their ballots.

Wednesday’s count shows about 36.7 percent of statewide active voters have already voted. In the 2012 presidential election, Colorado’s voter turnout was 70.9 percent.

But comparing this year’s early-voting numbers to 2012’s is difficult, as Colorado has changed its voting system to utilize mail-in ballots. People are still allowed to drop their ballots off in person or vote at polling centers on Election Day, but the differences in early-voting methods between the two years make direct comparisons difficult.

Democrats recently overtook Republicans in the number of statewide active registered voters. In 2012, Republicans held an early-voting lead through much of the election before a late surge by Democrats, though the final gap between Democrats and Republicans in voting percentages was fairly reflective of the gap in registration.

Of the 1.2 million votes submitted so far, 36.9 percent were from registered Democrats; 35 percent were from Republicans and 26.7 percent were from unaffiliated voters.

Libertarians have the next-highest voter turnout at 0.9 percent so far.

When looking at the state’s largest counties, trends show Democrats have generally outvoted Republicans and unaffiliated voters as well.

Donald Trump’s running mate, Mike Pence, will be in Loveland Wednesday, and Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich was at a conservative roundtable in Denver. Donald Trump Jr. will host a rally Thursday morning in Fort Collins.

Chelsea Clinton campaigned for her mother, Hillary, in Aurora Tuesday and in Boulder Wednesday morning. Former President Bill Clinton will campaign in Pueblo, Denver and Fort Collins Friday.

Two polls from Republican research group Remington Research taken over the past two weeks showed Clinton with a two- and single-point advantage over Trump in a four-way race.

Though Colorado’s polls have wavered over the past year, most have shown Clinton with a variable lead. A Real Clear Politics average of the major Colorado polls show Clinton with a five-point lead, and a CBS News/YouGov poll taken between Oct. 26 and 28 showed Clinton with a three-point lead on Trump. The same poll taken from Sept. 21 to 23 showed Clinton had a single-point lead.

DENVER – As we head into the final week ahead of the General Election, both of the major presidential campaigns are focusing on Colorado in a last-minute blitz of the traditionally-purple state.

Chelsea Clinton will campaign for her mother, Hillary, in Aurora Tuesday at 6 p.m. at the Martin Luther King Jr. Library. She’ll visit a Boulder campaign office Wednesday morning.

Her father, former President Bill Clinton, will campaign across Colorado Friday, Nov. 4. The Clinton campaign says the former president will be in Pueblo Friday morning and in Denver and Fort Collins Friday afternoon, though the exact details have yet to be finalized.

Donald Trump’s vice presidential candidate, Mike Pence, will campaign in Loveland Wednesday, making a stop at the Larimer County Fairgrounds at 5:30 p.m.

And Trump surrogate and former House Speaker Newt Gingrich will visit a conservative roundtable at Denver’s Independence Institute Wednesday.

Trump made his sixth visit to Colorado since July 1 over the weekend when he held rallies in Golden and Greeley.

The Clinton campaign has also had a heavy presence in Colorado in recent weeks, as Clinton’s pick for vice president, Tim Kaine, held a rally with singer Dave Matthews. Her campaign also bought its first ads in Colorado since this summer earlier this week, according to the Denver Post.

About one-third of Colorado’s active registered voters have already cast their ballots, and figures from the Secretary of State’s Office show Democrats have so far submitted about 28,00 more ballots than Republicans, and more than 100,000 more ballots than unaffiliated voters.

The campaigns are pushing for Colorado as the most-recent polls in Colorado have showed the race between Trump and Clinton has tightened in the state over the past several weeks.

Two polls from Republican research group Remington Research taken over the past two weeks showed Clinton with a two- and single-point advantage over Trump in a four-way race.

Though Colorado’s polls have wavered over the past year, most have shown Clinton with a variable lead. A Real Clear Politics average of the major Colorado polls show Clinton with a five-point lead, and a CBS News/YouGov poll taken between Oct. 26 and 28 showed Clinton with a three-point lead on Trump. The same poll taken from Sept. 21 to 23 showed Clinton had a single-point lead.

Those polls come as the Clinton campaign is again buying ads in Colorado for the first time since this summer, according to the Denver Post.

An ABC News/Washington Post poll released late Monday showed Clinton and Trump are virtually tied in polling, but polling experts have noted that the polls have remained largely unchanged over the past half-year.

FiveThirtyEight analyst Nate Silver tweeted Tuesday morning that even with the new ABC News/Washington Post poll, which some have said is an outlier, added to the FiveThirtyEight forecast, the overall percentage points only change by 0.2 percent.

Our model forecasts the popular vote as Clinton 49.2, Trump 44.7.
What if we removed the ABC/Post poll entirely? Clinton 49.3, Trump 44.5.

— Nate Silver (@NateSilver538) November 1, 2016

But Colorado is expected to be one of the state’s that could push either candidate over the 270-electoral-vote threshold needed to clinch the presidential nomination. FiveThirtyEight weights Colorado as the fifth-most important state in the election this year given its “purple” status and ability to tip the election one way or another, despite having only nine Electoral College votes.