Colorado’s county clerks recommend election-system changes to quash conspiracy t

Colorado’s county clerks are pushing for a host of changes to the state’s election system in an effort to quash conspiracy theories stemming from the 2020 election, including improvements to ballot-signature verification and making images of ballots available to the public.

The Colorado County Clerks Association pitched the recommendations Tuesday to the Bipartisan Election Advisory Commission, a panel of county clerks, state election officials and interest groups. The 23-member commission, which advises the Secretary of State’s Office, received the proposals on Tuesday at the end of its meeting. Much of the meeting centered on persistent, false allegations of fraud in the presidential contest.

Matt Crane, executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association, said his group’s recommendations would build on a “model that is one of the best, if not the best, in the country.”

Clerks want more transparency. ...Crane said county clerks also would like to see a signature-verification audit system implemented to ensure election judges are properly and consistently validating signatures on mail-in ballots. There’s currently no formal audit process for signatures in state law or rules. Clerks also recommended a similar audit process to verify voter registration rolls.