At least 12 voters had ballots stolen and fraudulently cast in a Colorado county

At least 12 Colorado voters in Mesa County had their ballots stolen, signed and mailed for the Nov. 5 election before the scheme was quickly discovered through the voter signature verification process, Colorado’s secretary of state announced Thursday. .

At an afternoon news conference, Secretary of State Jena Griswold said that of the fraudulent ballots discovered during Mesa County’s signature verification process, at least three were counted as votes, with a fourth ballot nearly verified by the county elections department before a voter contacted answered after being informed that their vote had been cast without their knowledge.

“The ballots were filled out, the return envelopes were signed and then returned to a USPS blue box, so that’s a mailbox – not a ballot box,” Griswold said.

She said her office was notified of the “developing situation” on Wednesday, adding that a criminal investigation is now underway in Mesa County.

When asked if there was a way to remove the three counted ballots from the count or reverse those votes, Griswold said Colorado’s confidential voting process prevents election officials from doing so.

“There is a right to a confidential vote under the state constitution. Once the signatures are verified, the ballot is independently removed from the envelope and placed into the (counting) process,” Griswold said.

In other words, once the ballot is removed from the envelope and counted, it cannot be traced back to the envelope in which it was mailed.

The three voters whose ballots were fraudulently cast will receive new ballots, she said.

“The issue was discovered during the signature verification process. At least three of the voters had already received messages from the Mesa County Clerk. Mesa County Clerk has emailed two of the affected voters asking them to correct their ballots, which means the signatures need to be reinstated – because the signatures were rejected during the verification process,” Griswold added.

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She said those voters told Mesa County they had not received the ballots or voted with them. The other voters whose ballots were cast without their knowledge were also allegedly warned by Mesa County officials to recover their ballots, but those ballots “were intercepted in time,” she said.

“We have at least twelve ballots that are suspect. The district secretary discovered the problem relatively quickly and put processes in place to prevent further damage,” Griswold said. “As for the signature process, signatures on the back of ballots are verified by an election judge and if there are questions about the signature, there is a secondary review by bipartisan election judges.”

Mesa County Clerk Bobbie Gross said in a statement Thursday that her office was “committed to transparency” as the investigation continues.

“I am fully committed to ensuring the integrity and security of our elections. We are currently investigating attempted election fraud. Our priority is to handle this investigation with the utmost care and diligence, and I believe that releasing details prematurely could jeopardize our ability to hold those responsible accountable,” Gross said.

She continued: “While we understand the Secretary of State’s desire to make public statements, this is our community and our investigation. It is critical that we follow the correct procedures to ensure a thorough and effective investigation without alerting those involved. The people of Mesa County deserve transparency and accountability, but this must be done in a way that protects the integrity of the investigation.”

One voter alerted Mesa County to the possible fraud after receiving a BallotTrax notification that their ballot had been received by the county clerk, but they had not yet voted.

Griswold said Mesa County election officials redoubled their efforts and went through every envelope already processed to “double-check everything.”

Citing the ongoing criminal investigation, Griswold could not comment on how or who was behind the fraudulent ballots.

“Everyone affected will be offered a new ballot. The Mesa County Clerk will be contacting all affected voters,” said Griswold, who urged voters to check the status of their ballots on the state website: govotecolorado.gov.

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Asked whether more fraudulent ballots may have been submitted, Griswold said, “I can’t comment on that at this time. What I can say is that the Mesa County Clerk is going through every signature that has been processed so far. This is a developing situation and we will share as much as we know with the Mesa County Clerk’s investigation.”

Griswold said her office was not aware of any other suspected fraud in Colorado, but “we are investigating another situation in the state for which we do not have enough facts to share at this time. As soon as we have enough information, we will certainly share it with everyone.”

Citing again the criminal investigation, she said she could not say whether the fraudulent votes in Mesa County were part of a larger scheme.

While emphasizing to Colorado voters that the state’s elections are “secure,” she urged voters to check the status of their ballots on the state’s website: govotecolorado.gov.

Confirmed voter fraud is rare in Colorado’s almost exclusively mail-in voting systemwhich one has several safeguards and controls to detect improper voting. While cases have been prosecuted over the years — including people’s attempts to vote using the ballots of their former or recently deceased spouses — the alleged scheme in Mesa County, Griswold indicated, was unprecedented, our partners at The Denver Post reports this Thursday.

This story was originally published by Jeff Anastasio and Óscar Contreras on Scripps News Denver.