(Colorado Newsline) A voter fraud criminal investigation is underway in Mesa County as Colorado election officials say that at least a dozen fraudulent ballots were submitted in the county, with three having been counted.

Every ballot so far returned in the county, said by the county clerk to number almost 30,000, is now being reexamined for evidence of fraud.

Jena Griswold, the secretary of state, announced the investigation during a Thursday press conference at her office in Denver.

Image

“It appears that as of now approximately a dozen voters in Mesa County had their ballots intercepted before they arrived to them and cast without their knowledge,” Griswold said.

Griswold, a Democrat, declined to answer a question about whether investigators — including Dan Rubinstein, the Mesa County district attorney, and Postal Service officials — had identified a suspect, and a question about whether the fraudulent ballots exhibited a preference for Republican or Democratic candidates.

Every active registered voter in Colorado receives a ballot in the mail. Ballots for the 2024 election were mailed starting October 11, and voters may return completed ballots by mail or to a drop box or polling location. County election staff verify voter signatures on ballot envelopes by comparing them with a signature in an official document, such as a driver’s license.

Griswold said the intercepted ballots were filled out, the return envelopes were signed and they were returned through a U.S. Postal Service mailbox.

The signature verification process caught the fraudulent ballots, when the signatures were rejected and the authentic voters were contacted to fix, or “cure,” the signature, Griswold said. One voter informed Mesa County elections staff that they hadn’t voted. Another voter was alerted to a problem when they received a notice through the state’s BallotTraxsystem, which tracks cast ballots, even though that person hadn’t yet voted.

The intercepted ballots had been sent to addresses “in close proximity to each other,” and at least some of them are believed to have been signed by the same person, Griswold said.

She said she believes Mesa County staff detected the fraud Tuesday.

Image

Bobbie Gross, the Republican Mesa County clerk, indicated some frustration with Griswold in a statement she released after the secretary’s press conference. Gross confirmed that her office is “investigating attempted election fraud.” But, she added, “I believe that prematurely releasing details could compromise our ability to hold those responsible accountable. While we understand the Secretary of State’s desire to make public statements, this is our community and our investigation.”

She suggested that release of details too early could tip off perpetrators.

“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.

In a statement to Newsline, Griswold responded to Gross’ remarks: “With just 12 days left until the presidential election, we took action to alert voters potentially affected by this scheme. I was proud to stand today with Matt Crane and the Colorado County Clerks Association to ensure voters have accurate information and quell any disinformation on this situation.”

Rubinstein declined to comment.

Though three fraudulent ballots escaped detection — four made it past election staff, but one of those was flagged by a voter who received a BallotTrax message — and were irrevocably added to the vote tally, Griswold insisted that Colorado elections are secure.

“This attempt at fraud was found and investigated quickly because of groundbreaking tools that we have here,” she said during the news conference. Among those tools are signature verification, ballot curing, and BallotTrax, she said.

Matt Crane, the Republican executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association, joined Griswold at the press conference. He lauded the state’s protections against voter fraud.

“Our processes here in Colorado did what they were supposed to do,” he said.

Affected voters in Mesa County will be given new ballots.

Mesa County was the site of an election security breach that attracted national attention. Its previous clerk, Republican election denier Tina Peters, was sentenced earlier this month to almost nine years in prison on felony convictions related to her role in the 2021 breach.

Colorado Newsline is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Colorado Newsline maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Quentin Young for questions: info@coloradonewsline.com. Follow Colorado Newsline on Facebook and X.