File your Colorado campaign finance reports on time
Register before you accept a single contribution, then file on whichever calendar matches your race. Reports are not monthly.
Last reviewed 29 August 2026 against the Colorado Secretary of State, Elections Division. Campaign finance rules change: confirm current requirements with Colorado Secretary of State, Elections Division before you file. This page is general information, not legal advice.
Your 2026 Colorado filing calendar
| Report | Period covered | Due |
|---|---|---|
| Report 1 | Through 29 Apr 2026 | 4 May 2026 |
| Report 2 | 30 Apr – 13 May 2026 | 18 May 2026 |
| Report 3 | 14 May – 27 May 2026 | 1 Jun 2026 |
| Report 4 | 28 May – 10 Jun 2026 | 15 Jun 2026 |
| Report 5 | 11 Jun – 24 Jun 2026 | 29 Jun 2026 |
| Report 6 | 25 Jun – 27 Jul 2026 | 3 Aug 2026 |
| Report 7 | 28 Jul – 2 Sep 2026 | 8 Sep 2026 |
| Report 8 | 3 Sep – 16 Sep 2026 | 21 Sep 2026 |
| Report 9 | 17 Sep – 30 Sep 2026 | 6 Oct 2026 |
| Report 10 | 1 Oct – 14 Oct 2026 | 19 Oct 2026 |
| Report 11 | 15 Oct – 28 Oct 2026 | 2 Nov 2026 |
| Report 12 | 29 Oct – 3 Dec 2026 | 8 Dec 2026 |
Reports are not monthly, and the schedule depends on whether your office is on the 2026 ballot. The calendar above is the frequent schedule for state candidate committees on the ballot (primary 30 June, general 3 November). Committees not on the 2026 ballot file quarterly instead: 15 January, 15 April, 15 July and 15 October 2026, then 15 January 2027 — and that quarterly pattern applies in even and odd years alike. County, school board and special district committees have their own posted calendars. A late report costs $50 a day whether or not there was any activity in the period.
Contribution limits
Colorado limits per election, and the primary and general each carry their own limit, both usable even if you are unopposed. Corporations and labor unions may not contribute to candidate committees. Limits double under the voluntary spending limit opponent rule.
| Donor | Limit | Per |
|---|---|---|
| Natural person or political committee → Governor, Secretary of State, Attorney General, Treasurer | $725 + $725 | primary and general |
| → State Senate, State House, Board of Education, CU Regent, District Attorney | $225 + $225 | primary and general |
| → county offices | $1,425 + $1,425 | primary and general |
| → school district director | $2,500 | per election cycle |
| Small donor committee → statewide | $7,825 | per election |
| Corporation or labor union | Prohibited | — |
What you must collect on every donor
Colorado itemizes from $20 — a much lower floor than most states — and adds occupation and employer at $100. Anonymous contributions of $20 or more are prohibited, and cash and cryptocurrency are capped at $100 per contributor.
- Contributor name and address at $20 or more, single or aggregated within a reporting period
- Occupation and employer for a natural person at $100 or more aggregate, including in-kind
- Under $20 is reported as a non-itemized lump sum
Reports that run on a clock, not a date
The 24-hour Major Contribution report
A candidate committee must report any contribution of $1,000 or more, including a candidate’s own loans, received within the 30 days before the primary or general election, within 24 hours of receipt in TRACER, in addition to the regular report. The 2026 windows open 31 May and 4 October. Candidates not on the ballot are exempt.
48-hour independent expenditure report
Independent expenditure committees spending or obligating over $1,000 within those same 30-day windows report within 48 hours.
Registering your committee
In Colorado the form is: Candidate Affidavit
Due within ten days of becoming a candidate. Separately, your candidate committee must be registered before you accept any contribution.
Two separate obligations, and the “$200 within 10 days” rule that appears in some guides is not one of them — that is the issue-committee trigger, misapplied to candidates. First, file a Candidate Affidavit within ten days of becoming a candidate; you become one by publicly announcing an intent to run and thereafter receiving a contribution or making an expenditure. Second, and separately, your candidate committee must be registered before you accept any contribution at all. Candidates spending only their own money with no outside contributions may run as standalone candidates without a committee, though expenditures of $20 or more are still itemized. State candidates also file a personal financial disclosure within ten days of the affidavit.
Who files where
File and edit your reports in TRACER. Candidates filing with a county board may use a different system — confirm with your county election office.
State, county, school district and special district candidates file with the Secretary of State through TRACER. Municipal candidates file with their municipal clerk instead, and home-rule municipalities and counties may impose their own rules and limits.
If you miss a deadline
$50 per day per late report, including weekends and holidays, imposed automatically even for a period with no activity. A waiver or reduction is available: submit a written request through TRACER within thirty days of the penalty notice showing good cause. A committee cannot terminate while penalties remain unpaid.
Keeping Colorado records ready to file
Whoever files your reports, the work is the same: capture every contributor field at the point of donation, keep running totals against the itemization threshold, and reconcile before each deadline. Campaign Deputy does that for campaigns in the states it supports.
