Know Before You Vote
- (Photo by InkkStudios for Getty Images Signature via Canva Pro)
Trusted local news outlets across Colorado are offering free tools to help you get ready to vote.
Find your favorite news outlet below and choose the tool you want to use.
Build Your Own Ballot
Enter your address to see the races and ballot questions that will appear on your specific ballot.
Colorado Tradeoffs
Explore the choices and tradeoffs behind big tax issues you’ll vote on, and see how your decisions affect Colorado — and your tax bill.
Find your local news outlet
Search the list below by news outlet, then click the ✔ for the tool you want to use.
Search by news outlet | Build Your Own Ballot | Colorado Tradeoffs |
|---|---|---|
Afrik Digest Magazine | ||
Ark Valley Voice | ||
Axios Denver | ||
Brighton Standard Blade | ||
Bucket List Community News | ||
Canyon Courier | ||
Clear Creek Courant | ||
Colorado Newsline | ||
Colorado Politics | ||
Colorado Public Radio | ||
Colorado Springs Gazette | ||
Denver Gazette | ||
Denver Post | ||
Durango Herald | ||
El Comercio de Colorado | ||
Estes Valley Voice | ||
Fort Lupton Press | ||
Front Porch NE Denver | ||
Golden Transcript | ||
Grand Junction Daily Sentinel | ||
KDNK Community Radio | ||
KHEN LP 106.9 Salida | ||
Kiowa County Press | ||
KSUT Public Radio | ||
KVNF Paonia | ||
Local NEWS Network | ||
Mountain-Ear | ||
Northglenn Thornton Sentinel | ||
Pikes Peak Bulletin | ||
Pueblo Star Journal | ||
Rocky Mountain PBS | ||
Sentinel Colorado | ||
Westminster Window |
Search by news outlet | Build Your Own Ballot | Colorado Tradeoffs |
|---|---|---|
Afrik Digest | ||
Ark Valley Voice | ||
Axios Denver | ||
Brighton Blade | ||
Canyon Courier | ||
Clear Creek Courant | ||
CO Newsline | ||
CO Politics | ||
CO Public Radio | ||
CO Spgs Gazette | ||
Denver Gazette | ||
Durango Herald | ||
El Comercio de Colorado | ||
Estes Valley Voice | ||
Ft Lupton Press | ||
Front Porch | ||
Golden Transcript | ||
GJ Daily Sentinel | ||
KDNK | ||
Kiowa County Press | ||
KSUT | ||
KVNF | ||
Local NEWS Net | ||
Mountain-Ear | ||
N-T Sentinel | ||
Pikes Peak Bulletin | ||
Pueblo Star Journal | ||
RMPBS | ||
Sentinel CO | ||
W-minster Window |
The Stories Behind the Tools
Newsrooms across Colorado aren’t just sharing these tools. They’re using them to help voters understand complicated issues, explore the consequences of their choices and participate in important public decisions.
Here are some examples of reporting – and more – from and about the project.
We’ll continue adding stories as our news partners and others explore the issues and share what they’re learning.
News outlets using Colorado Tradeoffs ballot question tool is 'The Next Journalism'
Inside the News in Colorado | Corey Hutchins | Oct. 16, 2026
An introduction to Colorado Tradeoffs that invites voters to see how their decisions on statewide ballot measures could affect Colorado’s budget — and how they would balance it.
Your ballot question vote will affect Colorado's $1.6 billion budget deficit. Want to see how?
Sentinel Colorado | Oct. 9, 2026
How Colorado Tradeoffs fits into a larger movement to make journalism more useful by putting the public at the center of the work.
Think balancing Colorado's budget is easy? Give it a try using this digital tool
Durango Herald / Colorado News Collaborative | Sandra Fish | Oct. 15, 2026
A closer look at Colorado’s budget challenges, how voters are using the simulation and what they’re learning about the tradeoffs involved.
TABOR Tuesday: Colorado Tradeoffs simulation
Paul Teske, University of Colorado Distinguished Professor and former Dean of the School of Public Affairs | Sept. 22, 2026
Since this is Colorado, due to TABOR, we ARE all state decision makers, as we consider this fall’s ballot initiatives.
Public Engagement for Building Trust
Chris Adams, Founder of Weigh In and Senior Fellow at the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs
Since 2008 I’ve been involved with building more than 200 budget simulations for more than 150 governments. Colorado Tradeoffs let me put what I’ve learned to work.
Local Colorado news outlets are offering tools to help you get ready to vote!
The Colorado Health Foundation | Oct. 13, 2026
The Colorado Health Foundation is helping to spread the word about these tools to the broader Colorado community.
Volunteering with Colorado Tradeoffs project
Stacie Ledden, Creative Strategist | Sept. 29, 2026
Since this is Colorado, due to TABOR, we ARE all state decision makers, as we consider this fall’s ballot initiatives.
Beyond the Election
We’re starting with elections, but we don’t intend to stop there.
From public budgets to decisions about schools, housing and transportation, communities face complicated choices every day. COLab and its partners are exploring how local journalism can help people understand those choices, weigh the tradeoffs and participate more meaningfully in the decisions that affect them.
That’s part of a larger effort to make local news organizations indispensable places for civic information and community engagement.
Project Partners
Know Before You Vote is led by the Colorado News Collaborative (COLab) in partnership with news organizations across the state.
Colorado Tradeoffs was developed with the University of Colorado Denver School of Public Affairs and Weigh In.
This work is supported in part by the Colorado Media Project, The Denver Foundation and Rose Community Foundation.
Thank you
We’re a nonprofit and a tiny one at that. We could not do this work without your support. Thank you to our donors.
Together, we are seeking to put the communities we serve first.