Haven't returned your Colorado ballot yet? Cram with this last-minute voters guide

Nick Coltrain | The Coloradoan

Show Caption Hide Caption Colorado Primary Election 2018: Who’s running Here are the candidates running in Colorado's primary.

Come Wednesday, those political text messages and mailers should cool off. At least until the fall.

But first, we have to get through Tuesday — primary election day. Here's a quick guide to make sure you can help the parties pick their nominees for the general election clash this November.

Don't mail your ballots

If you didn't mail your ballot in, oh, last week sometime, don't do it now. At least not if you want your vote to count. All ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on election night — and no, postmarks don't count.

That said, there are three 24-hour drop off locations and several grocery stores where you can drop off your ballot during the day.

The drop boxes are at:

Larimer County Courthouse, 200 W. Oak St., Fort Collins

Loveland Vehicle Licensing Branch Office, 205 E. Sixth St., Loveland

Estes Park Vehicle Licensing Branch Office, 1601 Brodie Ave., Estes Park

These grocery stores will accept ballots from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday:

King Soopers, 2602 S. Timberline Road, Fort Collins

King Soopers, 1842 N. College Ave., Fort Collins

Safeway, 2160 W. Drake Road, Fort Collins

Safeway, 1426 E. Harmony Road, Fort Collins

King Soopers, 1275 Eagle Drive, Loveland

And do you need to get a replacement ballot, change your address or register to vote? You can do that at the Voter Service and Polling Centers between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Tuesday. They are at:

Larimer County Courthouse, 200 W. Oak St., first floor, Fort Collins

Loveland Police & Courts Building, 810 E. 10th St., Loveland

Estes Park Municipal Building, 170 MacGregor Ave., Estes Park

This story continues after the gallery.

Only vote one ballot

Almost 200 people in Larimer County won't have their votes count in the primary election. The problem? You could say they were too zealous about the democratic process and voted both ballots received in the mail.

This is the first election where unaffiliated voters can vote in party primaries. However, if you're one of the 88,000 unaffiliated voters in Larimer County, or 1.2 million unaffiliated in the state, you must choose only one ballot to vote.

Once more for emphasis: Only. Vote. One. Ballot.

Vote both, and both get tossed out. Vote one, and it gets counted.

Vote with confidence

Now for what you're actually voting on.

There are four Democrats and four Republicans vying for their party's nomination for governor. It's the most crowded primary race in recent state history.

On the D side, it's former Treasurer Cary Kennedy, U.S. Rep. Jared Polis (whose district covers Fort Collins), Lt. Gov. Donna Lynne and former state senator and Obama campaign adviser Mike Johnston.

For the GOP, there is current Treasurer Walker Stapleton, former mayor of Parker and former U.S. Small Business Administration chief for Colorado Greg Lopez, former investment banker Doug Robinson, and former retail telecom company CEO Victor Mitchell.

Down ballot, there's just a handful of Larimer County-specific races. With Polis leaving his seat to run for governor, we have a Democratic primary for his congressional seat the first time this decade. And given the district's Democrat-favoring demographics — Polis' narrowest margin of victory was still by 13 percentage points — this could be the most influential vote in the race.

You have Joe Neguse, 34-year-old Democratic Party wunderkind. You may have heard former Vice President Joe Biden singing his praises in a recent robocall. Then you have party outsider and former U.S. Air Force fighter pilot Mark Williams who describes his campaign in Bernie Sanders-esque terms.

In terms of politics, each paints in broad, progressive strokes: Medicare for All. Impeach President Donald Trump. Protect the environment. In terms of institutional support, the dollars say it all: Neguse had raised $600,000, more than 10 times what Williams, did by April.

There is no other party primary for the seat. The winner will face Republican Peter Yu, Libertarian Roger Barris and independent candidate Nick Thomas in November.

Even more local is the Republican primary for the Larimer County commissioner nominee. There you have longtime Fort Collins real estate agent and Larimer County Planning Commission member Sean Dougherty against relative political newcomer Chalon Kintzley, whose family ties to Larimer County go back nearly a century.

Dougherty paints his campaign as an effort to keep Larimer County on an even keel; Kintzley says his experience helping to run his family's painting and drywall business brings a needed new perspective to the county's three-person governing board.

The winner will face state Sen. John Kefalas in November. The Fort Collins Democrat is unchallenged for his party's nomination.

If you want to dig deeper into any of the races, visit noconow.co/primaryelection.

Ballot returns as of Monday

Statewide:

Democrats: 267,620

Republicans: 261,686

Unaffiliateds returning Democratic ballots: 79,965

Unaffiliateds returning Republican ballots: 53,644

Unaffiliated returns that haven't been opened: 27,951

Unaffiliated voters as percent of total: 23 percent

Larimer County: