How Denver intends to keep its elections safe
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Election judges open a ballot box at the Denver Elections Division in November 2022. Photo: Michael Ciaglo/Getty Images
Denver City Clerk and Recorder Paul López is quick to say the election system his office runs is safe. But there are things that keep him up at night.
Why it matters: Election safety will be top of mind for voters and election officials this year, four years after former President Trump — the presumed Republican presidential nominee — lied about widespread fraud.
What he's saying: "There is an active effort to undermine confidence in U.S. elections — and that's what we're fighting against," López, who leads Denver Elections Division, tells us.
- It's an effort López, a Democrat, says comes from foreign actors and people believing the Big Lie. He says he worries about misinformation leading people to avoid voting.
How it works: The state's post-election audit ensures votes are tallied correctly, Denver's 44 ballot drop-boxes are monitored 24/7 by video, and paid bipartisan election judges handle ballots to ensure fairness, López says.
By the numbers: Denver will hire about 500 seasonal poll workers for the primary this June, López tells us, and recruit nearly 2,000 workers in the fall, slightly higher than in previous elections due to an increase in registered voters.
- Poll workers complete tasks like tabulating votes, picking up ballots from drop boxes, completing signature verification and greeting people at voting centers.
Between the lines: López says his staff gets intimidating messages, while the elections division received a powdered substance in an envelope containing a ballot last year, though Elections Division spokeswoman Mikayla Ortega tells us the substance was not harmful.
- The incident was reported to the FBI. López said security measures were added to election headquarters near Civic Center Park this year, though declined to disclose the specifics.
Zoom out: Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat whose office supervises elections statewide, has faced numerous threats over the past three years.
- "It is really scary when someone is telling you — over and over and over — how they're going to come kill you and your family," Griswold told Axios' Niala Boodhoo in May.
Threat level: While these acts are disconcerting, they may be overstated in the press, Charles Stewart III, director of the MIT Election Data and Science Lab, tells us.
- Stewart says that based on reports and surveys, most election officials don't receive physical threats. However, he says that doesn't diminish the impact these threats can have.
The bottom line: "Election after election, most people are able to vote and have their votes counted, and everything works well enough," Mark Lindeman, Verified Voting policy & strategy director, tells us.
- Elections don't need to be perfect, Lindeman says. Things will go wrong — equipment may fail, a ballot signature may need curing — and if they do, systems are built to recover to avoid catastrophe.
What's next: The Denver Elections Division released three PSAs on Tuesday explaining how elections work in Colorado.
Go deeper: Colorado voter guide to the June 2024 primary elections