U.S. Rep. Ken Buck, who chairs the Colorado Republican Party, has asked the Justice Department and Federal Election Commission to investigate postcards sent by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office, the latest escalation in a dispute that began with a debunked and retracted television news story.
“The American people deserve to know that the 2020 election will be conducted in a fair and transparent manner,” Buck wrote to the federal officials Wednesday. “As such, I urge the DOJ and FEC to open an investigation into the Colorado Secretary of State’s efforts to register individuals who are ineligible to vote.”
At issue are postcards sent by the Secretary of State’s Office — the state agency in charge of Colorado’s elections — with instructions on how to register to vote. Some of the postcards were sent to people who are ineligible to vote, including deceased Coloradans. A CBS4 Denver story last weekend incorrectly suggested the same mailing list is used for ballots, leading to a conservative outcry.
Buck and Secretary of State Jena Griswold have been engaged in a public war of words in the days since.
“It’s a shame that Congressman Buck and the Colorado GOP are complicit in the president’s efforts to spread misinformation and discredit Colorado’s election model, which is recognized as the gold standard across the country and has resulted in electoral victories for their own party,” Griswold said in a statement.
“This partisan, politically motivated attack from the Colorado GOP is an attempt to undermine confidence in our elections by fear mongering and spreading debunked election misinformation,” the Democratic secretary of state added.