https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/politics/elections/2024/08/25/colorado-republicans-election-certification-2024/74872375007/After Colorado’s elections for local offices this past November, a state Republican Party official sent out a notice to local board members saying they should vote against certifying the results.
“Nothing has changed since the 2020 elections,” wrote Ron Hanks, who leads the Colorado GOP's election integrity unit. He called the state “a playground for election manipulators” and alleged “systemic fraud” without providing evidence.
Republicans on five local canvass boards subsequently voted against certifying their results. Even though other board members outweighed the “no” votes, Hanks —a former state lawmaker who later lost his bid for a seat in Congress — laid out their real purpose.
“The elections of 2024 will be an epic battle,” Hanks wrote in his notice, framing the city council and school board votes as a practice run. “Our standing and credibility will be upheld if we reject the corruption of the unchanged voting process — in Colorado and throughout our nation.”
Colorado is part of a nationwide trend in in which local Republican officials vote against certifying elections. Many of these same Republicans question the results of the 2020 presidential election and experts see the votes as testing the waters for discrediting the results of this year’s presidential election.
