The Colorado Secretary of State’s office revealed that at least a dozen fraudulent mail ballots were submitted and identified in Mesa County. However, three of these ballots were counted and could not be removed from the final tally, according to a report by CBS News.
Just The News reports that during a news conference on Thursday, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold explained that the ballots were intercepted and fraudulently filled out before the intended voters received them. “The ballots were filled out, the return envelopes were signed, they were then returned to a USPS blue box, so that’s a postal box, not a ballot drop box,” Griswold said. The fraud was detected during the signature verification process.
The secretary of state’s office said it learned about the fraudulent ballots earlier in the week. Although most of the ballots were flagged before being counted, four initially passed signature verification. In two cases, voters were asked to cure their ballots, which led one voter to inform Mesa County officials that they had not actually received or submitted their ballot.
“The voter reached out to Mesa County to tell them they did not vote their ballot and or receive it,” Griswold noted. Additionally, another affected voter received a message via the BallotTrax system indicating their ballot had been received by the county clerk, despite not having voted.
A subsequent investigation by the Mesa County clerk revealed that the fraudulent ballots originated from areas in close proximity to each other and that some were signed by the same individual. The investigation has been handed over to the district attorney, who is conducting a criminal investigation into the matter.
“Colorado’s elections are safe and secure,” Griswold reassured voters in a statement. She emphasized that the state’s robust election security measures, including signature verification, ballot tracking, and the curing process, enabled officials to quickly identify the attempted fraud. “Every eligible Colorado voter will be able to make their voice heard this election,” she added.
The criminal investigation into the fraudulent ballots is ongoing, and further details are expected as it progresses.
