A kabuki pardon for a convicted election saboteur, threats of a prison break to free her, governor-bating presidential propaganda, and possible political retribution filled recent headlines but the real threat to the state’s elections happened quietly behind the curtains of political theater back in November. Unless, the Colorado legislature addresses that insidious attempt to subvert our elections, it will continue in 2026.
December’s drama centered around former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters who was sentenced to nine years for breaching election security in a failed attempt to find evidence of election fraud. After months of posting false information on social media and demanding her release lest Colorado face “harsh measures,” President Donald Trump granted Peters a meaningless pardon; he has no jurisdiction over state court convictions.
That didn’t stop Peters’ befuddled lawyer, fake pardon in hand, from visiting the prison only to be turned away. Meanwhile, Trump renewed his attacks on the state and Governor Jared Polis on social media. Even more unhinged voices joined him. Far-right podcaster Joe Oltmann, January 6th rioter Jake Lang, and another of Peters’ attorneys called for violence to free Peters. Then the Administration announced it will dismantle the National Center for Atmospheric Research in Boulder, an action some speculate is one of the “harsh measures” Trump promised.
Apart from the loss of a notable research institution, most of these end-of-year headlines are much ado about nothing. The real threat to election integrity got comparatively fewer headlines back in November when one out of three of the Arapahoe County Canvass Board refused to certify the results of the 2025 election.
I had a chance to talk about the process with Jane Ringer, a Democrat, and Matt Crane, the executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association and a Republican, about the certification process and why this seemingly small act of subversion undermines elections and erodes faith in the process.
As directed by Colorado law, a county canvass board comprising of a delegate of the county Republican party, a delegate of the Democratic party, and the county clerk, meet before and after each election to test machines and certify the results. At each step, the bipartisan delegates work together to examine ballots, test machines, ensure hand and machine counts match, and study the election data for inconsistencies.
After the last election, the Republican delegate, Robert Downey, refused to sign off on the results even though every process had been completed correctly and he found no problems.
The fact that Downey is an election denier is not surprising. If you want to feel like the only sober person at a 3 AM frat party, check out the Arapahoe County GOP’s website. You’ll find cameos of pillow magnate Mike Lindell, Tina Peters, and Joe Oltmann, a thoroughly discredited “report” about the 2020 election, and pictures from the last Lincoln Day dinner featuring Lara Logan, the once credible journalist who has been on a conspiracy theory bender since she embraced Pizzagate and QAnon tales of leaders drinking children’s blood.
It would be funnier if the Downey incident was an isolated case of Trump Derangement Syndrome, but it’s not. In the 2023 general election, Republican canvass board members in Boulder, El Paso, Jefferson, Larimer, and La Plata counties refused to certify results. GOP representatives in the largest of these three counties repeated their subversive efforts after the 2024 presidential primaries and then Archuleta, Eagle, Gilpin, and Larimer counties joined them that fall in attempting to compromise the certification process. Deniers seek to delay the results and generate the negative headlines they crave to undermine the public’s faith in the process.
Fortunately, those refusing to certify were in the minority and the election results were certified without their signatures. Under Colorado law, the secretary of state can step if such a failure occurs. That has happened in other states. A 2024 investigation by Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington identified 35 rogue election officials in eight states who attempted to undermine elections in this way. In some cases, the secretary of state had to intervene. In Georgia, a judge ruled that county certification of election results is mandatory by the deadline set in law thereby preventing election deniers from delaying the process.
Colorado has laws against subverting the certification process, but are they sufficient? Next year’s election is going to be contentious. Lawmakers need to hold hearings in the upcoming session to determine how these laws can be strengthened to prevent election deniers from interfering.
Krista Kafer is a Sunday Denver Post columnist.
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