In the 2026 Colorado general election, Colorado voters will elect a new governor, U.S. Senator, eight U.S. representatives and multiple other statewide and municipal positions. Voters will also have the opportunity to vote on 14 ballot measures concerning civil rights, law enforcement, income tax and more.
Colorado State University enrolled over 33,000 students in the 2026 fall semester, many of whom are eligible to vote in Colorado.
John Leevers, a first-year student, said voting opens the door for a wider range of civic engagement that may be unavailable to nonvoting citizens.
“You probably shouldn’t complain about politics if you’re not voting,” Leevers said. “By voting, it feels like I’ve earned my right to complain about something.”
Some students also acknowledged that understanding what they are voting on and how they are engaging with the upcoming election is equally as important as voting.
“I feel like I need to know more about what I’m voting for and engaging with,” said Bram Copeland, a CSU senior. “But it’s also important to use my civic right to vote.”
With the election rapidly approaching, CSU hosts a variety of organizations on campus that aim to not only teach students about their opportunities for civic engagement, but maximize the impact students can have.
“We think of voting as the first step towards a life as an engaged and active citizen, but it is only the first step of 10 or 20 steps,” said Sam Houghteling, who is the program manager for the Straayer Center for Public Service Leadership, an organization within the Department of Political Science that aims to create opportunities for students to civically engage with institutions at CSU and in Fort Collins.
Leading up to the 2026 general election, the Straayer Center held its annual Civics and Voting 101 seminar Sept. 23 to teach students about engaging with these civic institutions come November. The Straayer Center will also be hosting the CSU Democracy Summit Oct. 26 and 27. The summit is a two-day event designed to facilitate conversation, connection and democratic engagement.
“We believe that students at CSU are not only future civic leaders; we believe that they are current civic leaders,” Houghteling said.
New Era Colorado is an organization that focuses on civic engagement for young people. Founded in 2006 by four University of Colorado Boulder graduates, New Era aims to get young voters to turn out so their voices are accounted for in politics.
With this goal in mind, the organization has been tabling on the Lory Student Center Plaza over the course of the semester.
“Most people think that they need to directly get involved with our organization and that they need to do the work of writing policy or lobbying,” said Paola Ordoñez Sanchez, data manager for New Era Colorado’s Fort Collins chapter. “But a lot of it just starts with (saying) ‘We have volunteering options if you want to come meet more people.’”
Beyond voting in the general election, student organizations, such as CSU Political Review, hold regular meetings in which they encourage students to engage in deliberation with one another about politics and elections at university and up to national levels.
“We want this to be a general space of dialogue on campus that specifically focuses on students,” said Caden Harry, CSU Political Review executive team member. “We’ve historically brought in people from the community, from roles in local government to come and give their spiels and talk to us about what they do.”
CSU Political Review has hosted and plans to host events for students focused on the upcoming general election.
“We want people to be able to engage in (political discussions) seriously,” Harry said. “For us to be a country that functions the way that we historically have, we need to have those conversations.”
Many of CSU’s civic organizations also work with Associated Students of CSU, the university’s student government organization. Belle Hybertson, the ASCSU director of governmental affairs, said the organization is working to provide students with knowledge of how to engage with elections on the national, local and university level.
“I have not been in ASCSU until this year,” Hybertson said. “My view on ASCSU was that it was not engaging students enough; there was not enough civic engagement. I feel like that could be expanded upon greatly. I think there are not enough students that know at all about what’s happening in the university, on the local level (or) on the state level. ASCSU could definitely improve on that.”
County clerks began mailing out ballots to Colorado voters Oct. 2. U.S. Election Day will be held on Nov. 3.
Reach Robert Sides at news@collegian.com or on social media @RMCollegian.
