Investigation launched in Dolores County after 23% of voters did not receive ballots

Maddie Rhodes and Brooke Williams

11 minutes ago

FILE – A U.S. Postal Service employee works outside a post office in Wheeling, Illinois, on Dec. 3, 2021. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh, File)

DENVER (KDVR) – A vote recount and investigation are underway after reports that 23% of active voters in Dolores County did not receive their ballots for the state’s primary election.

A State Department spokesperson told FOX31 that Dolores County Clerk Lana Hancock notified the agency of the issue on July 1.

On July 3, Elections Supervisor Judd Choate sent a letter to Hancock informing him that she reported that 376 voters, or 23% of the county’s active voters, had not received a ballot in the mail.

Hancock had indicated she suspected some ballots had not been delivered after an unusually high number of voters came to her office seeking replacement mail-in ballots, Choate’s letter shows.

Choate also said Hancock’s actions suggested she allegedly knew about the problem.

“On June 13, you asked a representative of the United States Postal Service (USPS) if she was aware of mail delivery delays in your area. And on June 17, you asked your ballot printer, K&H Print Solutions, to confirm that all active voters in Dolores County had been mailed a ballot for the state’s primary election. K&H reported that all active voters had been mailed a ballot, but only 77% of those ballots were scanned as ‘received by voter,'” Choate wrote.

Choate said the K&H report was an “undeniable red flag,” adding that Hancock allegedly failed to fix the problem and did not inform the Colorado Department of State, the Board of Elections or the SCORE customer service team.

“Please also note that we are considering increased oversight of your election administration in Dolores County for the November general election,” Choate said in the letter.

Choate also wrote to the USPS that he believes the USPS lost the ballots after they were loaded onto a USPS truck in Seattle. The barcodes on those ballots were never checked in at the post office in Albuquerque, New Mexico, nor did they show up as “scanned for delivery” to the voter.

Choate said the ballots were likely lost somewhere between the loading dock in Seattle and the delivery scan in Albuquerque while in the possession of the USPS.

Since the letter, the department told FOX31 that the Postal Service has launched an investigation.

A recount is currently underway in the Republican primary election in the 58th House of Representatives district.

USPS sent the following statement to FOX31: “Postal Management is aware that mailed ballots are arriving late to Dolores County residents. Postal Management takes these issues very seriously and is reviewing the situation with the Colorado Secretary of State to resolve it in the future. We regret any concern this may cause.”