Election Worker Protections, Gun Restrictions At Voting Locations Among Secretary Griswold's Legislative Priorities

By Sara Wilson, Colorado Newsline

February 8, 2022

Secretary of State Jena Griswold outlined a 2022 legislative agenda that focuses on increased protections for election workers and safety at physical voting locations as the state, like most of the country, experiences an uptick of harassment towards election officials.

“Our system works. But across the nation, American democracy is facing unprecedented risks,” she said during a press conference on Tuesday.

She pointed to the U.S. Senate’s failure to pass voting rights legislation earlier this year, an increase in voting restriction legislation across the country and the rise in elected officials who promote the conspiracy that the 2020 election was stolen as examples of those risks.

“Colorado has been a national leader for elections for decades. Now, when threats against elections and democracy are growing, we must continue to lead,” she said.

Griswold wants these bills to be a bipartisan effort but did not have any Republican legislators at the Tuesday press conference.

States weigh how to shield election officials from threats, harassment

“We’re continuing to work on that, and we sure hope to get as much support because this is about making sure democracy works for every Republican, Democrat and Independent voter,” she said.

The Election Official Protection Act, sponsored by Reps. Monica Duran and Emily Sirota and Sens. Stephen Fenberg and Brittany Pettersen, would add more protections to election workers against doxxing, intimidation and threats. It would also make it a crime to retaliate against election officials for performing their duties.

Griswold said that 1 in 3 election officials feel unsafe in their jobs and 1 in 6 have reported being threatened while working, as well as facing other “unprecedented vitriol and threats.”

“We cannot allow dedicated election workers and civil servants from all parties to be forced out of their jobs because they feel unsafe or unprotected. Democracy is not possible without these public servants who freely and fairly administer elections,” Griswold said.

Griswold also wants to make it easier for statewide constitutional executive elected officials, like herself, to have access to state patrol resources.

Additionally, Griswold is working with Reps. Tom Sullivan and Jennifer Bacon and Sen. Rhonda Fields to pass the Vote Without Fear Act, which would prohibit the open carry of firearms within 100 feet of a voting center or drop box.

As of 2021, six states and the District of Columbia prohibit guns at polling centers, according to the Giffords Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence.

“On behalf of many communities who look like me, the bill is simple. You cannot bring weapons within 100 feet of places in which you vote,” Bacon, who is Black, said. “While I am proud to be able to bring this bill, I do want to point out that it is necessary.”

Griswold’s legislative agenda package also includes a bill to improve security for voting equipment and increase protections for whistleblowers. Her office is currently investigating or seeking more information for three county clerks who made copies of sensitive elections systems.

She also wants to reduce common filing fees for businesses, such as new business registrations, annual business renewals, registration of new trade names and renewal of trade names to $1.

Outside of the General Assembly, Griswold wants to modernize the state’s financial disclosure system to increase transparency in political spending.

Democracy functions only when people have access to reliable information about government and society. Colorado Newsline’s mission is to be a trusted source of such information. Newsline is nonprofit, nonpartisan and independent, and it provides fair and accurate reporting on politics, policy and other stories of interest to Colorado readers