As the election draws nearer, Coloradans have a lot of questions around voting 鈥� about how the process works, and also, what protections are there to ensure ineligible people aren鈥檛 casting ballots.
It鈥檚 a perennial concern in every election, but one that has heated up this year, that somehow large numbers of non-citizens 鈥� and the dead 鈥� will manage to cast ballots.
Weld County Clerk and Recorder Carly Koppes has been fielding versions of these fears since she first started working in the office in 2004. The Republican, who was first elected Clerk in 2014, is on her 6th presidential cycle.
鈥淭his isn鈥檛 the first presidential election that we鈥檝e got a lot of voters asking, 鈥榳hat about the illegals?鈥欌�� she said.
Despite no widespread evidence of voter fraud in the 2020 election, that a majority of Americans are concerned that there will be fraud this time around, in large part due to former President Donald Trump鈥檚 false statements. A majority of respondents in that survey said they believe noncitizens will be able to vote in the upcoming presidential election.
A number of audits, investigations and studies confirmed the results of the 2020 election, which President Joe Biden won.
The checks to ensure only eligible voters end up on the voter rolls start with the first question asked of anyone registering to vote in Colorado.
鈥淥n the form it says, 鈥楢re you a citizen of the United State? Yes or No?鈥� Koppes said, pointing to a printed copy of Colorado鈥檚 official voter registration form. Next to the question, the document says, 鈥渋f you answered No, do not complete this form.鈥�
鈥淪o, it鈥檚 a self-affirmation. We are hoping that you are answering that question correctly,鈥� Koppes explained. But 鈥渨hen we start registering you to vote in the voter registration system, we do verify and check.鈥�
In other words: trust, but verify.
Clerks and the Secretary of State鈥檚 office rely on a long list of databases to ensure their voter lists are clean, something even the right wing Heritage Foundation agrees Colorado does a good job on; it.
When it comes to preventing non-citizens in particular from voting, the verification process starts with two other pieces of information on that form 鈥� your drivers鈥� license number or, if you don鈥檛 have that, the last four of your Social Security number.
By double-checking those, 鈥渨e will be able to know if it is a valid U.S. citizen-issued Colorado ID or driver鈥檚 license or Social Security number,鈥� Koppes said.
While Colorado is a state that allows non-citizens, , to get a driver鈥檚 license, there are guard rails in place for them.
鈥淭here鈥檚 a nice big old black bar that鈥檚 actually put onto those issued IDs that clearly states this is not used for federal identification or voting purposes,鈥� she explained. 鈥淏ecause they鈥檙e already flagged within the Department of Revenue system, if they do try to get used as a voter registration, when we hit that system, it鈥檚 going to go 鈥榥ope鈥� and (that) stops it right there.鈥�
Koppes said with all these different checks and verifications, it鈥檚 exceedingly rare for a non-citizen to get onto a voter list. And if a non-citizen does actually manage to vote, the consequences can be severe: a fine, jail time and deportation.
鈥淚鈥檝e known people and I鈥檝e grown up with some people who have not been U.S. citizens and the last thing that they want to do is put that ability to eventually become a U.S. citizen in jeopardy,鈥� Koppes said.
It might not sound sexy, but voter list maintenance is a big part of the job of clerks and the Secretary of State鈥檚 office. The databases they turn to don鈥檛 just allow officials to check for noncitizens and keep track of deaths, there are many, many more that help clerks, such as ensuring people aren鈥檛 voting in two locations and spotting when people move out of state.
This work does not just happen in the months leading up to an election, but year-round.
鈥淲e update our voter lists daily using information about driver's license and address updates from the Colorado Department of Revenue. And (we get) incarceration updates from the Colorado Department of Corrections,鈥� explained Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold (Colorado bans people from voting ).
The state also gets federal information from the to see if someone previously issued a non-citizen driver鈥檚 license has obtained their citizenship and is now eligible to vote.
As for dead people voting, Griswold quipped, 鈥渁 dead person is dead.鈥�
鈥淏ut in all seriousness,鈥� she went on, 鈥渨e get information when Coloradans pass away from two spots鈥� the Department of Public Health and Environment and also the Social Security Administration.鈥�
Clerk Koppes said the Social Security list is aptly named the Death List.
鈥淲hen I worked in the elections department every day doing data entry, I would always make the joke, I see dead people,鈥� she said, citing the film 鈥淭he Sixth Sense.鈥�
And like the movie, the issue of dead people voting comes with a bit of a twist: some of the ballots counted on Election Day may legitimately belong to people who鈥檝e died.
鈥淯nder Colorado law, if a voter casts a ballot during the early voting period and then passes away before Election Day, that vote will count,鈥� explained Koppes.
Here again there is a verification process 鈥� in this case, with the signature on the ballot envelope.
Every voter has to sign the envelope when they return their ballot and if you鈥檝e been voting in Colorado for a while, your clerk鈥檚 office has all those signatures on file.
鈥淚t is extremely rare that somebody is going to be 鈥� even a family member 鈥� is going to able to duplicate your signature,鈥� Koppes said. 鈥淏ecause even if you sat down right now and did your signature five times in a row, you鈥檙e going to notice there鈥檚 five different little nuances every single time.鈥�
Elections judges have extensive training on signature verification. And here鈥檚 the thing, they鈥檝e caught people who tried to cast another person鈥檚 ballot.
鈥淲e actually, in the 2016 election, did catch an ex-husband trying to vote his ex-wife鈥檚 ballot,鈥� Koppes recalled.
In that case, the offender, a former chairman of the Colorado Republican Party, .
Even if you don鈥檛 trust traditional media, election officials urge you not to take your questions to Google or social media. Both Koppes and Griswold had the same advice: call your county clerk鈥檚 office.
鈥淲e鈥檙e the ones that do this and know and understand the responsibility that we have. It鈥檚 a huge responsibility,鈥� said Koppes.
One they take extremely seriously.