Pueblo-area metro districts say they learned about ballot mistake at same time as public

Three local metro districts found out about incorrect voter rolls sent by the office of Pueblo County Clerk Candace Rivera at the same time as the public, according to a joint statement released by those districts Friday.

The county clerk’s office sent updated voter rolls that do not include pre-registered minors to the affected metro districts the day after an initial news release about the matter was issued by the county clerk — but ballots have already been mailed.

The Pueblo West Metropolitan District, Colorado City Metropolitan District and Pueblo Rural Fire Protection District are holding mail elections on May 2.

Rivera has not responded to multiple requests for comment from the Chieftain this week seeking clarification about the error.

Prepare to vote: Meet the candidates running for the Pueblo West Metro District's Board of Directors

Rivera unseated longtime incumbent clerk Gilbert “Bo” Ortiz in the 2022 Democratic primary by a wide margin en route to beating Republican candidate Nathan Baxter with 52% of votes. Rivera previously declined to administer the election for the special districts because she had not yet obtained election certification.

A media representative with the county also did not respond to a detailed list of questions prior to the Chieftain’s Friday deadline.

Anthony Sandstrom, a spokesperson for the Pueblo West Metropolitan District, said the company that the metropolitan districts has hired to administer the election — and Colorado election law — have multiple safeguards in place to ensure that only eligible voters’ ballots are counted.

It is unclear if the metropolitan district was legally obligated to double-check the voter rolls the county clerk provided them before sending out ballots, Sandstrom said. But state law is clear that county clerks are required to provide a list of eligible voters for local government elections.

“Election laws are complex and difficult to navigate at times. We are working with our legal team, the county is working with theirs, and as that process continues, it's in the best interest of the voters to work together on a common ground to make sure that the election integrity is protected,” Sandstrom said.

Is an election observer coming to Pueblo again? Not this time

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold cannot dispatch an election observer to oversee the May 2 elections in Pueblo. Her office has no authority to get involved in local contests, according to department spokesperson Annie Orloff.

Griswold sent an election observer to Pueblo for the 2022 midterm and primary elections because of a series of errors, including incorrect ballots being sent to some voters under the leadership of the previous clerk.

Meanwhile, the clerk’s office is getting new digs

Pueblo County Commissioner Chair Garrison Ortiz declined to respond to specific questions about the clerk’s office, such as how the mistake was made and detected, but said commissioners are working alongside Rivera and her office to move into the Wells Fargo building on a tight timeline.

Ortiz told the Chieftain last month that the lease for the clerk’s election department, currently in an office building at 720 N. Main St., ends in June of this year.

City Clerk Marisa Stoller mentioned at a city council work session Monday that the county clerk needs to be situated in their new office by June 30 to comply with new statutory security requirements.

Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter, @annalynnfrey.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Pueblo ballot error: Districts learned of mistake when public did