Dear John,
We’re continuing to collect stories from election officials in our “Spotlight on Election Officials” series to help the public better understand the role they play in our democratic process. Here’s Matt Crane, Executive Director of the Colorado County Clerks Association:
|
|
These days, Americans are hearing a lot about the administration of our elections. What don’t Americans know about the election process in your state, that you wish they did?
People sometimes ask me what I do the other 364 days a year, but we work year round. When people ask us questions about our work, they’re usually blown away by the amount of details and work that goes into our jobs. There’s a lot of talk right now about election integrity and election security and we’re trying to stress that all voters play a role in secure elections... stay educated and don’t let bad actors scare you when they say that your vote doesn’t count or that there are cracks in the process because it’s just not true.
|
|
|
|
"People have fought and died for the right to vote and it’s up to election administrators to conduct elections in a secure and accessible manner. We work hard and we focus on transparency – it’s the people’s process and they have the right to be brought into it. "
|
|
|
What was your experience conducting a risk-limiting audit?
I’m really proud of the fact that when I was Arapahoe County Clerk, we did the first end-to-end risk-limiting audit (RLA) pilot in Colorado in 2013 in coordination with the Secretary of State and the Election Assistance Commission. We fell in love with the concept and invited everyone back in 2014 to do another RLA. It was a little tough on our old legacy voting system but the process helped inform the purchase of our new voting system. Colorado was the first state to conduct a statewide RLA in 2017 and now it’s considered a national best practice for election security.
|
|
|
True audits like risk-limiting audits are designed to give voters justified confidence in our elections. Thanks to supporters like you, we can keep working with election officials around the country to promote audit best practices and share the stories of the work they do to ensure every vote counts.
With thanks,
Corrie Emerson, Communications Officer
|
|
|
|
