COLORADO, USA — A voter fraud investigation centers on at least 60 clients of an adult day care center in Denver whose ballots appear to have been forged by someone else, 9NEWS Investigates has learned.
According to multiple sources, the ballots never made it into the hands of those who were supposed to get them – then were returned to clerk’s offices in six metro area counties.
There, the process of verifying signatures called them into question – and prompted the investigation now led by Denver’s district attorney and involving prosecutors in other counties.
According to sources, the victims were older – many in their 70s and 80s – and speak Russian. Investigators working on the case have been using Russian interpreters to interview them.
The suspected ballots were returned to six metro-area counties: Denver, Adams, Arapahoe, Boulder, Douglas and Jefferson.
So far, there have been no charges filed or arrests made.
The vast majority of Colorado voters now use mail-in ballots. The process of verifying that a voter’s signature is authentic is carried out differently in different counties, according to Wayne Williams, Colorado’s secretary of state from 2015 to 2019.
“In most counties in Colorado, it starts with an individual judge who is reviewing the signature,” Williams said. “In the large counties in Colorado, the initial pass is done by a machine.”
Whether by a person or a machine, any ballot with a signature that’s questioned is set aside and then reviewed by two election judges – a Democrat and a Republican. If they both agree a signature is suspect, the voter is notified. In that case, the person has until eight days after the election to “cure” the ballot. That could mean verifying that the signature is legitimate – or it could mean reporting that it is not and being given a new ballot.
The voters whose ballots are part of the current investigation are being given another chance vote.