Colorado Committee to Hold Hearing on Election Integrity

Runners run past the Colorado State Capitol on Oct. 20, 2019 in Denver, Colo. Patrick McDermott/Getty Images

A Colorado state committee will hold an official hearing on election integrity and related concerns around Dominion Voting Systems, next week.

The announcement comes after the Democratic Speaker of the Colorado House refused a request by a group of state Republican Representatives for the creation of a special election committee and for an audit of the voting software used in the state.

“Due to increasing calls from constituents across the state to perform an audit of Colorado’s election systems and the recent denial of lawmakers seeking transparency through a special committee on election integrity, the Legislative Audit Committee will hold a special hearing next week,” said a statement from the committee chair and all but three of the Republican House representatives.

They said the purpose of the hearing is “to hear testimony and learn from expert witnesses regarding the integrity of Colorado’s election processes during the 2020 General Election, and related concerns surrounding Dominion Voting Systems.”

Democrats have a comfortable majority in both Colorado state lawmaking chambers. Joe Biden was certified as the winner of the presidential election in the state, which carries 11 electoral votes, with a 13 point lead over President Trump.

Colorado is currently being sued by Judicial Watch over allegations that voter rolls are outdated in violation of the 1993 Voter Registration Act, noted the group of GOP lawmakers.

“While previous problems such as ballot harvesting have plagued Colorado for several years, new concerns surrounding our election process became more pronounced when voter registration postcards from the Secretary of State’s office were intentionally sent to ineligible individuals,” they said.

“This incident led to an official complaint and request for investigation to the U.S. Department of Justice and Federal Election Commission.”

The outgoing Speaker of the Colorado House, KC Beker said on Monday that “the state’s elections are among the safest and most secure in the nation, and that audits leave no doubt about this year’s results.”

She dismissed concerns as coming from “a few fringe members of the minority traffic in debunked conspiracy theories.”

The Secretary of State, Jena Griswold has also defended the integrity of the state’s election and denied any wrongdoing.

The office of the Secretary of State has not responded to a request for comment.

Dominion Voting Systems have repeatedly dismissed allegations that their products were involved in any voting irregularities.

In Colorado, 94 percent of ballots were cast using a mail ballot.

The number of people voting in the presidential election increased from 2016 by 17 percent in Colorado, with nearly 87 percent voter turnout this year—the second-highest turnout rate in the nation.

According to the officially certified results, Joe Biden got 55 percent of the votes in Colorado, to President Trump’s 42 percent.

In 2016, Colorado certified 48 percent of votes for Hilary Clinton 43 for president Trump.

AP contributed to this report.