Colorado election officials battle voter misinformation ahead of Election Day

DOUGLAS COUNTY, Colo. — Colorado county clerks and recorders gathered in Douglas County Thursday morning to debunk voter misinformation myths and provide transparency on the election process.

The clerks said that since the 2020 election, they've seen an uptick in misinformation regarding the election. They argue that the best way to dispel the myths is to provide transparency.

"Unfortunately that's what we're living with right now," said Boulder County Clerk & Recorder Molly Fitzpatrick. "People are being manipulated by bad actors and by technology that's perpetuating this problem of mis and disinformation.”

Fitzpatrick said the most common piece of misinformation they face are accusations of ballot harvesting, the collection of ballots by a third party which are then changed to a particular candidate. She also noted that election officials are on the lookout for false election narratives spread by artificial intelligence (AI), deepfake technology, used to alter videos.

"It's actually bizarre," said Fitzpatrick. "Now we're having to also deal with this technology that is spreading misinformation quicker than a human can.”

Denver7 previously spoke with Jefferson County officials on how they're working to ensure ballot integrity ahead of the 2024 election. Colorado clerk and recorders expanded upon that process on Thursday.

Colorado elections are overseen from start to finish by election judges. The judges are community members who volunteer their time to bring ballots from secure ballot boxes and oversee the entire tabulation process.

Each judge works in tandem with another judge of the opposite political party. The bipartisan process requires regular check-ins, and transportation routes are tracked.

This year, Douglas County has a live stream available for each ballot drop-off box . If someone has concerns about election security, they can monitor the ballots live. El Paso County has also adopted a similar live view.

"It's very impressive," said Edward Brookes, a Republican election judge. "There's no way anyone's going to be able to do anything to tamper with your ballot.”

The Colorado County Clerks Association provided the following key election dates:

• Oct. 11: Ballots begin mailing to voters
• Oct. 11: Ballot drop boxes open and under continuous video surveillance
• Oct. 21 through Nov. 5: Vote centers open for in-person voter services
• Oct. 28: Last day for voters to return completed ballots by mail to ensure they are received by Election Day, postmarks do not count
• Nov. 5: Ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day
• Nov. 13: Last day for a voter to cure their ballot for a signature discrepancy or missing ID to have their votes counted

They added that "each voter can choose to return their voted ballot by mail (before Oct. 28 is recommended), to a convenient ballot drop box, or to a vote center where they can also receive in-person voter services."
All ballots must be received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.

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