With Election Day now just 39 days away, the Mesa County Election Office continues to prepare for the hustle and bustle of voting season. With more than 85,000 ballots to fold and mail out by Oct. 17, the clock is ticking.

There will be five ballot drop boxes scattered throughout Mesa County once ballots go out.

While most people return their ballots by mail, a small percentage prefer to drop off their ballot in person.

Since Colorado began using mail-in ballots about 10 years ago, fewer voting locations are needed.

Currently, the number of people in Mesa County who vote in person on Election Day is only about one percent.

“Because we are an all-mail ballot delivery state, we will only be opening up seven locations across the county for in-person voting,” said Reiner.

Schools, which used to be a common place to cast your vote are, for the most part, no longer used.

The Salt Lake City School District recently announced it has moved completely away from using schools as polling locations due to safety concerns.

Officials said District 51 shares those concerns.

“If a school was contacted about being a polling place, we have to work with election committee and look at where we would establish that—make it easily accessible to the public but also provide safety and security for students and staff at the school,” said Tim Leon, Director of Safety and Security at District-51.

“Election officials are taking a look at not looking at school because it can be a disruption, but we are giving up some of the opportunities for students to learn about civics and things like that,” said Leon.

Plateau Valley is the exception in Mesa County; their school is used as a vote center for Collbran residents.

In-person voting at four voting centers starts on October 24.

On Election Day, November 8, there will be seven locations for in person voting.

The Mesa County elections office is testing their counting equipment on Friday, they'll conduct their Logic and Accuracy Test to make sure ballots are tallied correctly.

Election officials said voters should double check registration information, things like your address and party affiliation.