Mistakes in Elbert County clerk’s office prompt appointment of election supervisor

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold appointed an election supervisor Wednesday to monitor the general election in Elbert County, following a 2021 alleged security breach committed by the county’s clerk and mistakes in ballot counting during this year’s primary election.

In 2021, Republican Clerk Dallas Schroeder gave copies of the county’s election system hard drive to two people who weren’t allowed to have them. Griswold, a Democrat, ended up taking Schroeder to court to gain custody of those two copies. That security breach was the reason Griswold appointed an election supervisor in the county during the June primary.

Additionally, there were dozens of uncounted Elbert ballots discovered after the primary. The ballots were eventually counted and verified as part of a recount.

“If not for the recount, those voters’ ballots could not legally have been counted, and those voters would have been disenfranchised due the Clerk’s error,” a release from the secretary of state’s office reads.

Christi Coburn, who also supervised the county’s primary election, will once again supervise the general election and started the job on Wednesday.

Griswold also appointed an election supervisor this week in Pueblo County for the general election following widespread ballot printing errors in the office of Democratic Clerk Gilbert “Bo” Ortiz.