No, Colorado Voting Laws are Not Like Georgia’s
Latest lie from the GOP and its official networks – “Colorados voting laws are like Georgia’s, so MLB shouldn’t have moved the All Star game there.” As we all know, the controversy began when Georgia Repubs, not liking the results of the 2020 election, rammed through a whole new set of voting restrictions designed to suppress the votes of those they don’t like. They lied that it was about “election integrity”, but we all know that’s pure USDA Grade A bullshit. It’s about voter suppression, though they’re working hard to make it look like what it’s not.
In response to the bill, many large corporations belatedly condemned the law (after their customers and activists protested). MLB announced they were pulling the All Star game from Atlanta and subsequently moved it to Denver. The immediate response of Repubs? Corporations should stay out of politics (except for donating money to us). They also started lying about Colorado’s voting laws, falsely claiming that it’s laws are worse than Georgia’s. Of course, that’s not true, not even close.
Jen Psaki was asked about that lie in the WH press briefing, and she set the record straight –
Boom.
My daughter moved back to Texas after living in CO for several years. The difficulty in getting registered was one of her big complaints.
1Grandma Ada,
2I lived in Colorado for seven years and had no problem registering so I have no idea what you are talking about.
Grandma Ada, I lived in Colorado for seven years and had no problems at all registering or obtaining a driver’s license so I have no idea what you are talking about.
3One of the biggest differences between Colorado and Texas is the opportunities to register.
Colorado — has same-day registration, so voters can (and do) show up on the last day of voting, show ID of some sort (the list of Acceptable ID is something like 14 bullet points, some including multiple sources), register, walk over to an election judge and get a ballot (it may take a few minutes for the central database to update).
Georgia — has a registration cut-off 29 days before the election. Not postmarked … actually received 29 days in advance. The Secretary of State’s site explains
“You are not officially registered to vote until this application is approved.
“You should receive an acknowledgment within two to four weeks after submitting or mailing your registration. Please contact your local county registration office if you have not received any information from them by then.”
Voting in person has a state-wide schedule, and voters must show photo id.
4If someone wishes be an absentee voter, they must make a request (separate from registration). When it is approved, it only lasts one election cycle. The voter will get a ballot and will need to provide some form of identifier when submitting it. Drop boxes must be inside a voting location, may only accept ballots in a set number of business hours, and the number is prescribed — “metro Atlanta, for instance, had 94 drop boxes in 2020 but will have only 23 going forward.”
I moved to CO in October of ‘16, from a solidly blue state. I wanted to vote in CO so we moved up our departure date. In order to register to vote I went to the county dept of motor vehicles and got a CO drivers license and voter registration at the same time. Literally couldn’t be easier. And as has been mentioned already, I could’ve waited until Nov 8 to register.
For every election since then, state, county, or municipal I have received, along with every other registered voter, a ballot in the mail, usually 6 weeks before the actual election “day”. I can mail the ballot or drop it in one of many drop boxes all around the city I live in, like at grocery stores, the senior center, the police station or the county courthouse. The only way it could be easier, imho, would be to do it on line. Eminently doable, of course, but also probably impossible to do right, as in securely. I’m not holding my breath on that one.
I worked as an elections judge last November. I was hugely impressed by the county Clerk and Recorder, Angela Myers, who was in charge of running the election for Larimer County. First time I’d ever done anything like it. She spoke at the orientation sessions held for all the judges working the election, held in August or September. We had to sign and verbally speak an oath to do our respective tasks not just to the best of our abilities, but to do them perfectly, because we had to get it right the first time. My job was really boring but immensely interesting. I baby sat a drop box in the entrance to a King Soopers grocery store on Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, along with two other judges—a dem, a rep, and an ind, from 7am-5pm and 6:30am-7:00pm on Tuesday. Every single person who dropped off their ballot was asked if they’d signed and sealed their ballot envelope. Every one. There were about 5 I think who hadn’t signed the envelope.
And we all got paid $12/hour for the privilege. I can’t wait for the next time.
5I hope Grandma Ada chimes in, but I read her comment as saying the difficulty registering to vote was when her daughter got to Texas, not in Colorado.
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