El Paso County voters can expect ballots in their mailboxes in the coming days.

The Clerk and Recorder’s Office mailed about 473,000 ballots Friday morning for the upcoming general election. Voters can expect lengthy ballots with the presidential race along with state and local questions and races to arrive by Oct. 21.

Clerk and Recorder Steve Schleiker said he is hoping to see a local voter turnout between 88% and 90%, several percentage points above the turnout in 2016 and 2020.

“No doubt there is a lot of emotion attached to this particular election, a lot of anxiety,” he said.

To help manage the workload, Schleiker said, he has hired more than 800 election judges up from 250 needed during the June primary. Election judges complete numerous tasks, including signature verification — when judges compare a voter’s signature on the back of a ballot’s envelope to other signatures on file from previous elections and driver’s license renewals.

The county has also added a few 24/7 ballot drop boxes, for a total of 41. Most people, about 99% of residents live within 15 minutes of a drop box. The three most recent drop boxes were added at the Boettcher Center at Colorado College, Banning Lewis Ranch Academy and Mountain View Academy.

Residents needing a replacement ballot or other in-person services may visit the Clerk and Recorder’s Office at 1675 West Garden of the Gods Road. Five additional voter service and polling centers will open Oct. 21. The county will phase in voter service centers and operate 38 on Election Day.

Soldiers are welcome to register and vote in-person on-post at 6351 Wetzel Ave., Bldg. 1525, Schleiker said. On Nov. 4-5, the Clerk’s Office on Fort Carson will operate solely as an in-person voting center. Military service members must change their home of record to vote in Colorado, he said.

Those mailing in their ballots must pay for 73 cents in postage. Voters should not mail their ballots after Oct. 28.

Voters can register to receive updates about their ballot at ballottrax.coloradosos.gov/voter. Full lists of drop boxes and voter service centers can be found at EPCVotes.com.

Ballots must be returned by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Nov. 5.