Colorado to implement ballot tracking statewide for November’s election

Provided photoColorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold on Sept. 12, 2020, sued Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and the postmasters in Denver and Albuquerque to keep this flier from being delivered to customers in Colorado because it contains misinformation about voting. She alleges in her lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Denver that the flier was sent to attempt to confuse and disenfranchise voters because it says people must request a mail-in ballot. In fact, all voters in Colorado receive their ballots in the mail.

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Provided photoColorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold on Sept. 12, 2020, sued Postmaster General Louis DeJoy and the postmasters in Denver and Albuquerque to keep this flier from being delivered to customers in Colorado because it contains misinformation about voting. She alleges in her lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in Denver that the flier was sent to attempt to confuse and disenfranchise voters because it says people must request a mail-in ballot. In fact, all voters in Colorado receive their ballots in the mail.

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced Monday that for the first time, voters in all 64 counties can track the status of their mail ballots for the 2020 general election.

Voters in Montezuma and La Plata counties can receive notifications by phone, email or text, from the time their county clerk and recorder mails their ballot to when it is accepted for counting.

“This new program is one of the many ways that Colorado continually innovates to ensure our elections are the best in the nation,” Griswold said in a news release.

Twelve counties implemented the BallotTrax ballot tracking and messaging system in past elections, and the city and county of Denver will continue to operate a separate system that they developed. The remaining 51 counties will receive the BallotTrax system.

Beginning today, voters in the remaining 51 counties will receive a notification that they have been enrolled in the service if their registration record contains an email address. Those who don’t receive an auto-enrollment notification can sign up at https://colorado.ballottrax.net. Voters can opt out of BallotTrax at any time.

Voters in counties with preexisting ballot tracking capabilities, including Denver’s BallotTrace, will not need to reenroll.

Griswold on Saturday sued the U.S. Postal Service, accusing the agency of attempting voter suppression through an informational postcard it’s sending to voters about how to cast their ballots through the mail.

Griswold, a Democrat, says the postcard presents false information in the four bullet points included on the flyer, including telling Colorado voters they must request a mail-in ballot.

The legal action, filed in federal court, asks that the Postal Service be barred from continuing to deliver the postcards to Colorado voters. It lists Louis DeJoy, the controversial Postmaster General appointed by President Donald Trump, and the regional postmasters for Denver and Albuquerque, as defendants. Mail delivered to the Four Corners region of Colorado is routed through Albuquerque.

Ballots will start being mailed to Coloradans on Oct. 9.

For more information, please visit www.GoVoteColorado.gov.