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10 11 24 Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul Lopez discusses sending out mail in ballots
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Joining us on the KOA, Calment Spirit Health Hotline, it's Denver Clerk and Recorder Paul Lopez. Paul, glad to have you back on Colorado's morning news. I know the ballots head out today, but when will most people start seeing them in their mailboxes? Good morning. Well, I'm actually headed out to the GMF today, the Gerald Mellon facility to be there to receive them. They'll start receiving them today into the weekend and on Monday. And when it comes to deadlines, when they receive these ballots, when can they start dropping them off? And what is all the details when it comes to voting in person if they don't use their mail-in ballots? Well, your mail-in ballot is a mail-in ballot, so you can put that in the mail at two first-class stamps, or you can take it to 45 of our secure drawboxes. Those are going to be open today, all the way up until 7 p.m. on election day. 95% of people use the boxes more than anything else. If you want to wait to vote in person, those vote centers will have 39 of them that are going to be opening in phases beginning October 14th, all the way to election day. But like I said, the easiest way to do it and forget about it and make sure it's in our hands, is to put in one of those drawboxes, they are safe, secure, and the number one way that people return ballots. What is it the important drop-dead date for folks that have to still register to vote and want to try to do it by mail? Is that what mid-October, late October? We would say that in order for folks to be able to register and receive a ballot, in the mail would be the 28th, but I would do that as soon as possible. Don't wait for register to vote. You can register to vote all the way up until election day, but in order to get a ballot, all you got to do is register to vote and then give us a call as well to 720913 vote. You can pick up your ballot at our central location, or you can go to any vote center. And when they open up to be able to register to vote, change your affiliation, do things like that, vote center is more than just a polling center. Clerk Lopez, I know the Denver Elections Division tested its ballot counting machines on Wednesday. How did that process go? And is this a reliable way to make sure that we have a secure and safe election in our state? Absolutely. Like everything else, we have three tests that we do during and before and after the election. The logic and accuracy test is just that. They test the accuracy and logic for voting equipment. Maybe past every single year, since I've been clerk, this is my 14th election, and no difference this year. It is working as expected and tabulating as expected. So it's safe, secure, transparent, and accurate. You mentioned this as your 14th election. We're in unprecedented times, and that may be an understatement. Do you have to take extra safety precautions for you, your staff, to make sure you can count the vote and do your jobs? I appreciate that question. Thank you. Our election workers are amazing, and we have 1,200 this year, including our full-time staff. We've been preparing for this election for the last four years. We paid a lot of security improvements. We've been working with national partners, the Department of Homeland Security, FBI, local law enforcement, and also we've been doing a lot of tabletop training with other agencies in the city and the state for different scenarios. So we've been prepared, we're prepared, and here's the other thing. Although it is an era, a different era, unfortunately, where threats against elections officials and infrastructure are very real, let me assure the public that the preparation, because of the partnerships that we have, I can confidently say that it is safe. It is secure to participate. It will be safe voting, and the best way to do it is just to drop that ballot off in one of our drop boxes. I know the city's election budget is also extra important during this time. Statewide voters received that very hefty ballot information booklet, and it's super helpful, but it seems like Denver's printed and mailed booklet was a little skinnier this year. Was there a reasoning behind what was put in the blue booklet this year for Denver voters? Yeah, so what is arriving in the mail from Denver for the blue book is what's required by Tabor, what's required by state law. Those are questions I have to do with tax fee increases, things like that. However, all the other issues that are appear on the Denver ballot, those will not be mailed. We will have a limited print of ballot blue books for those who want one mail to them. All you have to do is call us at 720-913-VOTE, visit us online, request law, and you can go to any library or any one of our vote centers, and we'll have some printed versions available. It's important for us, especially in these kinds of times where we want to be proper stewards of tax fair dollars and saves us over $200,000 to print mail, but also proper stewards of our environmental impact. This is, we're talking about a semi-truck full of paper. What we did is say, hey, look, we're going to be able to have this online, and it's universal. You can go to DenverVotes.org from anywhere, access that ballot booklet. If you want one printed, like I said, you can pick one up at the library, one of our vote centers, or just call us and we can send you a printed copy of that. Denver Clerk and Recorder, it's Paul Lopez. Always appreciate your time and your efforts to keeping our vote safe and secure, and you all stay safe and secure as well. Thanks so much. Thank you. Let's go vote. 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