Election 2020: What you need to know about Weld County election security, ballots, and voter fraud

By Kelly Ragan

Every presidential election, Carly Koppes fields endless questions about election security. Election security even took center stage during the first presidential debate between Donald Trump and Joe Biden Tuesday night. 

But she doesn’t mind. A self-professed election geek, 2020 will mark Koppes’ fifth presidential cycle as the Weld County Clerk and Recorder. Koppes said that despite the national attention on election security, the level of local concern seems to be about the same as she’s always seen it during a presidential election year. 

“This is not my first rodeo,” Koppes said in an interview with the NoCo Optimist. “This noise we’re hearing isn’t new. We hear it every four years. There haven’t been any new or shocking revelations.”

When people inevitably ask, Koppes said she points them to the facts. 

Colorado has been doing mail-in ballots since 1993. In 2013, Colorado moved to all mail ballots. Since then, she said, Colorado has been successful. 

The vast majority of Weld County votes are cast by mail, Koppes said, and it’s safe. 

Koppes, a Republican, said her office has taken a total of five cases of voter fraud to court. 

“The last one was in 2016, where an ex-husband tried to forge his ex-wife’s signature,” Koppes said. “So, there have been very very few times. You’re talking 1 in over 100,000 ballots cast. The reality is, with as much effort as we put in, voter fraud is difficult to get away with.”

They work year-round to prepare for the election, she said, to make sure cyber security measures are up to snuff. 

Koppes said a team of signature judges offer another layer of security. 

Koppes said a ballot might be called into question if a signature judge rejects the signature on the ballot. If it doesn’t match up with your other signatures – and yes, they can look at all your previous signatures – they’ll send you a letter. 

From there, you have eight days to respond to the letter and address the issue. Sometimes it’s as simple as someone in the household accidentally signed the wrong ballot or forgot to sign the ballot at all.  

If you ignore the first letter, the Clerk and Recorder’s office will send one more letter before sending the issue to the District Attorney’s office for investigation. 

So, if you get a letter saying you need to resolve a ballot issue, don’t panic. It doesn’t mean you’re going to prison for voter fraud. 

Instead, Koppes said, her office is trying to make sure your voice is heard. 

“Your vote matters,” she said. “We’ve seen that time and time again (with close races) in Weld County. Everyone needs to understand how close that vote can be.” 

On Wednesday, a bipartisan team of judges did what Koppes called public logic and accuracy testing on the machines. 

The goal is to make sure all the machines work like they should. 

“They get to mark the ballots however they want and choose what machines to test,” Koppes said. “Once they check it off, we can officially use the equipment  for the election. If they have a concern, they can disqualify it, and I can’t use it in an election.”

How do ballots work in Colorado? 

If you’re registered to vote in Colorado, you’ll automatically get a ballot sent to your current address. 

You should have received your 2020 State Ballot Information Booklet in the mail. Soon, you’ll get a TABOR book too. 

Ballots will be mailed out Oct. 9. Military and overseas ballots have already been sent out. 

If you forgot to update your address or haven’t yet registered, you can do so on election day in person. 

“One of the things Colorado is known for is how good our records are, partly because of how much list maintenance we do,” Koppes said. “We’re connected with the USPS to track address changes. We also work with the Colorado Department of Health and Environment to get a deceased list to verify when people pass away.” 

Even though they do a lot of list maintenance, Koppes said, voters should still do their own due diligence and update their registration if they have a name change, an address change, or want to change their party affiliation. 

“We’re one of the top election states in the nation,” Koppes said. “A lot of people look to us to see how we’re doing things.” 

What impact will COVID-19 have?

While Koppes said she can’t predict what the pandemic might mean for voter turnout, it will change the look and feel of in-person voting. 

“Our workers will have masks, they will have gloves on, and wait times will be higher,” Koppes said. “Utilize your mail in ballots like you have been in Weld County.”

Koppes said it’s also important to note that the much-coveted “I Voted” stickers also come with the mail-in ballot, so you don’t have to vote in person to get one. 

Koppes said she could talk for hours about election misinformation, but at the end of the day, she recommends you reach out to experts if you have questions. 

“Reach out to me, contact me, I’ve made myself pretty available,” Koppes said. 

Have questions? 

You can reach out to Carly Koppes, the Weld County Clerk and Recorder at ckoppes@co.weld.co.us or call her (970) 400-3155.