Colorado election workers unite across party lines for accurate count

As Colorado voters cast their ballots, election workers and judges at clerks' offices around the state have begun the task of counting.

"Those rooms are full of people from all different parties. They're working together because they just want a fair election. They just want to see democracy work for everybody," said Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Amanda Gonzalez.

In the basement of the clerk's office are the locked rooms where judges work and machines hum. Incoming ballots are first run through a sorting machine that checks if signatures match those on record for registered voters, using 11 different signature points. About 55% are confirmed matches, while about 45% require further review. They're initially examined by a judge to assess whether the signature matches. These judges have no access to the ballot itself and cannot see how a person may have voted.

"If that first person is not able to confidently match the signatures, it goes to a second bipartisan team, who have a longer file of signatures we have on file for you. So if you've voted in Colorado for a number of years, we may have more than a dozen," Gonzalez explained.

That bipartisan team will include a Republican and a Democrat. If they cannot determine a match, the ballot is set aside and not counted. A letter is sent to the voter, who has eight days to "cure," or rectify, the issue. If not resolved, the ballot remains uncounted.

It's just part of what bipartisan teams of judges do. They're not allowed to discuss politics while working, so instead, they talk about everyday life, even if they have opposing political views.

"They talk about food and kids," said Marilyn Whisenand, a judge since 2007. Whisenand is an unaffiliated voter.

Fellow unaffiliated judge Kyle Giddings has worked only a couple of elections since taking the paid position following the 2020 election. He feels he's learned a lot.

"It brought a lot of clarity to the process—something I didn't know I needed but was very encouraging to learn," Giddings said. "From the moment it comes into this building to when it's finally counted in tabulation, every step is taken in a bipartisan way and very seriously."

This hasn't stopped some people from questioning the process and making claims of irregularities. In the aftermath of the 2020 election and Jan. 6, 2021, clerks like Gonzalez have taken extra precautions, such as strengthening connections with law enforcement.

"The silver lining of some of those scary things we watched on television is that clerks and elections in general, I think we are better prepared than we ever have been," she said.

Colorado was the first state in the nation to create a "risk-limiting audit" after voting concludes.

"Both political parties come in to help us pull that ballot because every ballot that's counted in Colorado is on paper," Gonzalez explained.

Each ballot is given a unique ID when it arrives at clerks' offices across the state. The state later generates random numbers that are sent to clerks, who pull those ballots for human examination. The number of ballots varies from hundreds to thousands, Gonzalez said, with more examined in close elections.

Bipartisan teams review the ballots.

"We're physically comparing paper with the way the computer tallied it," Gonzalez said. They check to see if the computer got the vote count correct.

Whisenand feels good about her work and enjoys the people she works with. She appreciates how technology has improved the process.

"It's newer, and it's such a good process. And each year it improves," she said.

This year may be contentious, but in the basement of the clerk's office, there's more camaraderie than may be seen on the outside.

"The people that work here care about that ballot. And that ballot is taken care of," Whisenand said.

Voters can still register and vote on Election Day. Polling places are open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. Tuesday, but to register, people must go to a voting center in their county with a proper ID.

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