Colorado’s county clerks stand strong but will our commissioners?

Thanks to Colorado’s bipartisan association of county clerks, I’m able to start this year off writing about a rare and refreshing instance of Democrats and Republicans working together to move our country forward in a positive direction.

Last month, the Colorado County Clerk Association (CCCA) published a letter to all of our state’s elected officials urging them to help restore confidence in our elections. “We need your courage and your voice to help us counter the lies and amplify the truth,” the letter reads.

Membership in the CCCA includes the Democratic and Republican county clerks of all 64 counties in our state. Seven Republicans and one Democrat serve on their executive board; the executive director is a Republican.

In their letter, the CCCA reminds us that, “all evidence and testimony from Trump’s own legal team completely reject the claim that the election was stolen.” Anyone who continues to support the lies about massive voter fraud in the 2020 election, the CCCA continues, is “undermining our Constitution.”

Here in Garfield County, I’m grateful that no groups have cast doubt on the validity of our local election system. Clerk Jean Alberico handed the reins over to Clerk Jackie Harmon in 2022, and I believe we can all agree that voting here has continued to be accessible to all registered voters and the ballot-counting process has remained fair and accurate.

In addition to asking elected officials to confirm the reliability of elections within their own jurisdictions, the CCCA urges our leaders to defend Colorado’s elections as a whole and help debunk the nationwide lie that the 2020 election was stolen.

One consequence of this ongoing lie, the CCCA states, “is the very real threats against our election officials here in Colorado and across the country…” 

Just before the 2022 midterms, the FBI identified Colorado as one of seven states with the highest number of threats against election workers, including death threats targeting some of Colorado’s county clerks. The threatening and harassing of election workers by election deniers is expected to increase nationwide as we approach the 2024 election.  

Earlier this month Attorney General Merrick Garland warned of a “deeply disturbing spike” in the number of violent threats against public officials as a whole, including law enforcement agents and judges. A recent study found that 41% of pro-Trump Americans believe that violence may be necessary to “save America.”

If we want to be a nation governed by the rule of law, and not by bullying and violence, we need to put to rest the lie that the 2020 election was stolen from Trump. The CCCA is urging every elected official in our state to do their part to correct the record regarding the 2020 election.

As Republicans who have been in their positions for decades, the Garfield County Commissioners are in a uniquely powerful position to root out the Big Lie here in our county. 

While we have been spared the hateful and racist attacks against public officials happening in other areas, plenty of county residents still believe and perpetuate the lie that the 2020 election was stolen. By sharing the facts in the CCCA letter with their constituents–including long-time friends, co-workers, and supporters–Garfield County Commissioners could influence local election-deniers in a way that few individuals or elected officials are in a position to do.

Unfortunately, when asked at their January 8 meeting if they would comply with the CCCA request by assuring their constituents that Biden was legitimately elected and there was not massive voter fraud in 2020, all three commissioners refused to answer. 

Commissioner Martin praised Garfield County’s elections, then proceeded to cast doubt on the election systems of other Colorado counties. Commissioner Samson said nothing during the 10-minute conversation except, “Nope,” when asked if he wished to respond. 

The commissioners are well aware of their potential to impact state and national issues. They’ve spent close to $2 million of taxpayer funds fighting statewide environmental and public health protections. Last year they spent thousands of taxpayer dollars attending and speaking at a national conference of an anti-conservation, climate-denying organization. 

When it comes to the Big Lie, however, the commissioners are hypocritically claiming they have little to do with state or national issues. 

Commissioner Jankovsky added that election-denying is irrelevant because it’s old news. “That’s old…really old,” he said, “Almost four years old.” 

The Republican-dominated CCCA board disagrees. They understand that lies about the 2020 election continue to justify the ongoing threats and political violence we’re experiencing as the 2024 election approaches. 

Please join me in contacting the commissioners and urging them to join the ranks of the bipartisan CCCA by bravely speaking the truth and affirming unequivocally that Trump lost the 2020 election and Biden was legitimately elected. As the CCCA states, “Now is the time for courage, not cowardice.”

Debbie Bruell of Carbondale chairs the Garfield County Democrats and is a past member of the Roaring Fork Schools Board of Education.