Celebrate our county clerks instead of demonizing them
Colorado has a rich history of being a local- control state. We have numerous elected officials that serve at the local level. Whether it be in a municipality, a county, a school district, or a special district; local governments are the heart of our governmental system here in Colorado.
Over the past few years, particularly in the last few months, our county clerks have come under attack as widespread misinformation has been brought to the people and media of Colorado surrounding election integrity.
In the 2020 election, Donald Trump easily won the counties I represent in the northeast corner of the state. Yet, despite an overwhelming majority of votes for Trump, I constantly heard that the election had been stolen while campaigning for my current office. This fall, after working diligently with my colleagues to make sure Proposition HH was defeated throughout the state, once again the election integrity of our county clerks was called into question — this time by Ron Hanks, chair of the Colorado GOP Ballot and Election Security Committee.
After the 2020 election, former Colorado Mesa county clerk Tina Peters filed a recount lawsuit. In talking with most of the clerks in my senate district, which covers seven Colorado counties, not only did the recount not uncover any mistakes, but the final recount ended with the exact same number of votes from the original election results. This November, Ron Hanks encouraged any member of the GOP not to certify the 2023 election results, but offered zero evidence to prove the election integrity issues that he is accusing the county clerks of carrying out.
I know the majority of county clerks in my district very well and they do their absolute best to ensure fair and free elections in their respective counties. They follow procedures and policies closely, taking great care to line up observers and election judges from both sides of the aisle. The level of care they take to ensure elections with integrity is exemplary.
If you have concerns about the election process in your county, I would encourage you to contact your county clerk and ask questions. Our clerks take a lot of pride in the work they do, and I believe they would be happy to answer your questions and explain the great lengths they take to ensure professional and ethical elections with only the highest level of integrity.
The county clerks in my district are often the most trusted elected officials in their county. In Logan County where I served as a County Commissioner, our county clerk earned more votes than any other elected official on the ballot.
The accusations being made against the Colorado county clerks are not only dangerous, but are also perpetrating a fraud in the great state that I live in. If there is irrefutable proof of wrongdoing, then present it now. If not, end this dangerous rhetoric. We cannot continue this narrative that the elections were stolen just because our candidate didn’t win. The current attacks on the county clerks aren’t accomplishing anything except to create division and weakness in the party. We need to move forward and work to prepare for the 2024 elections, instead of remaining in a mire from the 2020 elections in a manner reminiscent of the Democrats after Al Gore’s loss to George W. Bush.
To be clear, I’m not saying there aren’t any concerns that need to be addressed. Secretary of State Jena Griswold should work better with our local election officials and restore transparency to her office’s election policy. The voter rolls desperately need to be cleaned up and the SOS should do more to clean up those voter rolls and provide guidance on how to audit the ballot signature verification process. Finally, the state legislature should pass a requirement to provide voter identification at all points in voting.
Our county clerks work very hard doing their jobs to make sure that our elections follow the law, are run efficiently and correctly, all while maintaining the highest integrity. I stand with all seven of the county clerks that I represent, and I appreciate the wonderful job they do to make sure that our Republic has fair and free elections.