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Big Lie inspired bill from Rep. Hanks would significantly restrict access to voting and destroy Colorado’s gold standard elections
DENVER, CO – Democrats on the House State, Civic, Military and Veterans Affairs Committee today defeated GOP legislation that would end vote by mail and early voting in Colorado.
“GOP politicians are using debunked conspiracy theories to try to eliminate vote by mail and early voting in Colorado. We won’t let them,” said Rep. Jennifer Bacon, D-Denver. “Vote-by-mail and early voting have led to Colorado having some of the highest voter participation rates in the country, especially among Black and Latino voters. This bill is nothing more than an attempt to deny Coloradans their fundamental right to vote.”
“We have the most secure elections in the country, and Coloradans love our vote-by-mail system and the flexibility to vote before Election Day,” said Speaker Alec Garnett, D-Denver. “House Democrats will always protect our democracy and elections in Colorado from GOP threats to our voting system. I’m proud of our members who defeated Representative Hanks’ legislation that would have eliminated mail-in ballots and early voting.”
HB22-1204, sponsored by Representative Ron Hanks, would eliminate vote by mail and early voting in Colorado. For the second year in a row, GOP lawmakers are using repeatedly debunked conspiracy theories that claim the 2020 election was stolen in order to upend how Coloradans vote. The changes would make it harder to vote in Colorado and limit voter participation, undermining Colorado’s gold standard system for access and security.
Over 98 percent of voters in the 2021 election chose to cast their ballot by mail, and almost 94 percent of ballots in the 2020 General Election were returned via mail or drop box. The vast majority of Colorado voters, 86 percent, returned their ballots before Election Day. Colorado’s voter turnout rate is over 75 percent, placing the state second in the nation in voter participation and roughly seven percentage points higher than the national average of 68 percent.