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DENVER (KDVR) – Beginning Oct. 9, Colorado voters will get their mail-in ballots delivered first class.

Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul López said the new delivery protocol will ensure voters have the time they need to carefully research before they cast their votes.

“Given the COVID-19 pandemic and the importance of the November presidential election, mail ballots must have higher priority status now more than ever,” López said.

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In Denver, all active voters receive mail-in ballots. The Office of the Clerk and Recorder recommends all voters put their ballots in the mail or drop them at either a ballot drop box or drop-off location by October 26.

The office must receive votes by 7 p.m., Nov. 3.

COVID-19 social distancing procedures could prompt a larger-than-average mail-in turnout. In-person voting measures look like those of bars, restaurants, and other public areas, including 6-foot distancing rule, mask requirements, plexiglass partition, and area disinfection between voters.

Nationally, mail-in ballots have served as a new political battleground in a heated presidential election year. National political parties accuse each other of weaponizing mail-in ballots.

Democratic officials accuse Presidential Donald Trump and the GOP of withholding funds from the USPS in order to disenfranchise mail-in Democratic voters. Republicans, in turn, voice concerns of voter fraud and count inaccuracy resulting from widespread mail-in ballots in a pandemic year.