DENVER — A criminal investigation is underway after the ballots of about a dozen voters in Mesa County were intercepted and cast without the voters’ knowledge, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold said.
The ballots, which never made it to the voters’ homes, were filled out, sealed in the ballot envelopes, signed, and returned through a postal box.
Griswold said three of the ballots made it all the way through the counting process. The votes made on those ballots cannot be reversed, Griswold said.
One of the ballots made it through the signature verification process but was caught before it was counted.
Griswold said the issue was discovered during the signature verification process, when the clerk’s office found the signatures did not match the voter signatures on record and stopped the counting process for those ballots.
The secretary of state revealed the issue at a news conference on Wednesday afternoon.
Griswold said two of the affected voters contacted the county clerk’s office after they received a communication asking them to cure their ballot or fix their signature. Another voter contacted the office after receiving a notification that their ballot had been counted, Griswold said. None of those three voters had cast a ballot.
Griswold said a criminal investigation is underway. The U.S. Postal Service is also investigating, she said. Griswold said at least some of the ballots were signed by the same person, but it’s unclear if the ballots were all intercepted and returned by a single person.
In a statement, Republican Mesa County Clerk Bobbie Gross said she was "fully committed to ensuring the integrity and security of our elections." Gross said her office is investigating the attempted election fraud. She said she believes prematurely releasing details could compromise their ability to hold those responsible accountable.
"The people of Mesa County deserve transparency and accountability, but it must be done in a manner that protects the integrity of the investigation," Gross said.
During the signature verification process, when a signature does not match, the ballot remains in the sealed envelope and the voter is contacted to “cure” or fix the discrepancy. If the signature has changed over time, the voter can confirm it is their current signature through the cure process. If the signature was not theirs, the ballot is turned over to the District Attorney’s office for investigation.
