Colorados really on the front lines, driving the national conversation around guaranteeing ballot access for eligible incarcerated folks.

Senate Bill 72, the jail-based voting bill, was the first of its kind in this nation.

So we are the first state to ever require every jail to have an in-person voting event.

And now in November, folks who are in the jails will be able to vote for the first time in person no matter what jail they are in, in Colorado.

Ladies, I need you to lock in.

If you do not lock in, you will be locked in for the rest of the day.

We go into the Denver County Jail, at least once a month, to do voter registration.

Good morning, everybody.

Good morning, everybody.

My name is Kyle.

I'm with the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition.

I'm here to talk to you today about your voting rights while you're here at the Denver County Jail.

I can't tell you how many times we run into folks who are in their thirties, forties and fifties, who've never voted before because they didn't think they had the right to vote because of an old felony conviction that they got in their twenties.

There are certain rules.

You know, if you have been convicted of a felony and are serving that sentence, then you are not eligible to cast a ballot.

But if you are here in the trial process, or if you have been convicted but have served a felony, then you are able to cast a ballot.

And really it's an educational campaign as well to let people know that even if you are in a facility like this, you still do have the same rights.

I know, at the Denver downtown facility, we got 95 people to register to vote.

People who are involved in the system, who are the closest to the problems now get to have a voice in the solutions that will appear on the ballot for the criminal justice system.

Thank you for registering.

So Denvers actually been doing confined voting since 2020.

The whole state really sees Denver as a leader in this movement.

We are participating with the Colorado Criminal Justice Reform Coalition, League of Women Voters, the Secretary of State's office to train other counties in how to set up a vote center, how to process voter registration from inside jails, make sure that people are able to participate and fill out their ballots, and then ultimately be able to turn in their ballot and vote in this upcoming election.

A real life situation.

I was able to volunteer to be a confined voter and just interact with the judges and explain situations that we had been through.

I think all together we had, over 75 election officials from all over the state come through that training and be able to just see in person how to do this.

The logistics part is the part you just got to figure out when it comes to jail-based voting.

But once you're in there doing the voting, its just like doing an in-person voting event out in community.

A lot of the folks are really excited to see us.

They're very excited to be engaged and they're super excited that we want to engage with them.

Do you know the last fou of your Social Security number?

As someone that's formerly incarcerated and had my voice taken away at one point, It's something that's super important to me and advocating for those who don't have their voices in their democracy and in their communities to have that restored to them.

Individuals on the inside have just as much of a stake in voting as anyone on the outside, because the decisions that are being made on those ballots have a direct impact on their families and their lives.