Colorado SOS issues new rule on ballot envelope holes following Pueblo snafu
The Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder’s office tried something new for the November 2023 election: a hole in the ballot return envelope meant to help expedite ballot counting and be another quality control measure.
But the placement of the hole could have potentially revealed voters’ choices on their ballots, leading to outcry from some candidates for local office.
The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office recently issued a new rule that closes a loophole on how holes are placed on ballot return envelopes, but SOS spokesperson Jack Todd declined to confirm if the rule was spurred by the snafu in Pueblo County.
The temporary rule has been put in place ahead of the March 5 presidential primary and is good through May 9, Todd said in an email. Any permanent rulemaking could be done through the department without the involvement of the state legislature.
“The Department of State is dedicated to ensuring Colorado’s elections are safe and secure so that every eligible voter can make their voice heard. This rulemaking process is in furtherance of that goal,” Todd said. “Voters have a constitutional right to a secret ballot and counties must ensure that their ballot and ballot envelope designs protect that right.”
What the new rules say
The new rule specifies that a county cannot implement a hole in ballot return envelopes “in which the target area for any contest on the ballot may be seen,” according to the Jan. 10 announcement from the SOS.
When county clerks use a hole in ballot return envelopes, they need to confirm with the SOS office in writing “that any envelope with a hole or other opening has been inspected and tested to verify that no target area can be seen through that hole or opening.”
The ballot return envelopes that Pueblo County distributed in the November 2023 election included a hole in the middle of the envelope that could reveal voters’ choices if they put their ballots in with the default fold.
Todd confirmed with the Chieftain in October 2023 that the Colorado Department of State reviews ballot plans electronically, but that did not include checking for the placement of return envelope holes.
Pueblo County officials publicly asserted multiple times last fall that their election plan had been approved by the SOS and that personal information could not be compromised.
Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder Candace Rivera did not respond to a request for comment from the Chieftain.
Rivera said in a mid-November interview with the Chieftain that future elections will not have a hole in ballot return envelopes again because of negative public feedback. She added that removing the hole would lengthen the time to process ballots in 2024 elections.
County clerks all over the state use holes in ballot return envelopes as a quality control tool to make sure all ballots have been removed, the Chieftain has previously reported. Properly placed holes can be especially helpful for sorting primary ballots, which often feature color to differentiate between Republicans and Democrats.
Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com. Please support local news at subscribe.chieftain.com.
This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Colorado issues new rule on ballot envelope holes after Pueblo snafu
