Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announces the launch of a misinformation initiative
By Steven Bonifazi and Hannah Prince
On Wednesday, Oct. 20, Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced the launch of a misinformation initiative.
Griswold’s office is expanding its efforts to combat foreign influence operations leading up to the General Election. According to the public announcement, this initiative includes social media, digital outreach and creating a website to help voters identify misinformation.
The Secretary of State office will work with governmental partners, such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Federal Bureau of Investigation, on additional election security measures.
“Colorado is considered the safest state in which to cast a ballot, and we continually innovate to maintain our leading cyber preparedness,” said Griswold. “Foreign adversaries are conducting influence operations to try to undermine Americans’ confidence in the electoral process, and states must act. That’s why we are launching efforts to combat misinformation. It’s important that voters have accurate election information.”
This initiative continues the work of Griswold against misleading voters, following a lawsuit against USPS. On Sept. 12, Griswold and Colorado Attorney General Phil Weiser filed a lawsuit in federal court against Postmaster General Louis DeJoy, along with other USPS officials, after a voter postcard contained incorrect details on how voting in the state functions.
The lawsuit stated that the postcard contained incorrect details, such as stating that voters must request their mail-in ballot at least 15 days before election day on Tuesday, Nov. 3, when in reality all registered voters receive ballots at the mailing address they list when registering to vote.
“As the Chief Election Official of the state of Colorado, it is my job to try to stop misinformation and any unnecessary election confusion,” Griswold said in a press release on Saturday, Sept. 12. “The importance of this election, combined with the fact it is being held amidst a national pandemic, further heightens the need to provide correct voting information to Coloradans.”
USPS settled the lawsuit on Sept. 18, agreeing to allow the Colorado attorney general and secretary of state to inspect any national media regarding voting before the 2020 General Election, as well as destroy any leftover voter postcards that have been barred to prevent confusing any more state voters.
Almost a month after the lawsuit, ballot drop boxes and voting centers opened. And as of Oct. 18, the Colorado Secretary of State’s office announced 641, 271 ballots have been received. The office will send a daily update every weekday through Election Day, reporting the number of ballots returned to county clerks.
For more information, visit www.GoVoteColorado.gov.
