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Some county clerks in Colorado received death threats as supporters of former President Donald Trump called for election audits, according to the secretary of state there.
President Joe Biden quickly won in Colorado against former President Donald Trump by a double-digit margin of more than 13 points. But Trump supporters in the western state seem to have been misled by the former president’s baseless claims that the 2020 election was “rigged” or “stolen” by Democrats-leading some to seek redress. auditing and recounting.
“Some clerks are getting death threats,” Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, a Democrat, told the newspaper The Colorado Sun for an article published Friday. “Some provinces are being called upon to do these third-party, unsafe sham audits.”
Griswold used an emergency rule this week that limits access to voting equipment in Colorado to officials who have passed background checks. In addition to passing a background check, the new policy only allows employees of a county election office, the secretary of the state office or a voting system vendor to access the equipment, as well as appointed election judges.
The policy came as conservative groups pushed for state and nationwide audits.
Some county clerks in Colorado are receiving death threats as supporters of former President Donald Trump are calling for an audit in the western state. In this photo, a female voter says a quick prayer before casting her ballot at Edgewater City Hall on Nov. 3, 2020 in Edgewater, Colorado. Marc Piscotty / Getty Images
“We know that here in Colorado and across the country there are groups reaching out to local electoral jurisdictions, bypassing the state level, trying to solicit audits,” said Matt Crane, Colorado executive director. County Clerks Association, on Sun. “There’s a lot of disinformation there. A lot of people unfortunately believe that and they act on it.”
Trump and key supporters like MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell and lawyer Sidney Powell continue to promote irrelevant conspiracy theories about the 2020 election. These often bizarre allegations have been thoroughly litigated and nabasted. Dozens of election challenge lawsuits filed by the former president and his supporters have failed in state and federal courts, with judges appointed by Trump and other Republicans denying the claims.
Audits and hand recounts in major battlefield states-including areas where Republicans who voted for Trump ruled the election-reaffirmed Biden’s victory in November. Former U.S. Attorney William Barr, widely viewed as one of Trump’s most influential Cabinet officials, said in December that there was no “evidence” of widespread fraud that would change the outcome of the election.
In addition, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency with the Department of Homeland Security described the 2020 election as “the safest in American history.”
Griswold pointed out in an interview with MSNBC that Colorado has already conducted an audit, insisting that elections in the western state are guaranteed.
“Here in Colorado we consider it the safest state to vote in, in part because we’ve already done an audit that limits risk. That was the premiere type of election audit. It was already underway in the election last year. 2020. What that audit shows us in a safe way is that the election results are correct, ”he explained.
Trump’s lies about the 2020 election resonated with most Republican voters. A Reuters and Ipsos poll in May found that only 25 percent of GOP voters view the 2020 election as “legitimate and accurate.” Meanwhile, 56 percent of Republican voters said Biden’s victory was the result of “illegal voting or election rigging.”
Newsweek reached out to Griswold’s office for further comment.
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