Senate State, Veterans, & Military Affairs

Thank you Mr. Vice Chair and Members for your consideration of House Bill 1113, which was formed in consultation with a bipartisan group of county clerks, the Secretary of State's office, the Attorney General's office and election stakeholders from across Colorado. This is certainly a bill that has had lots of conversation about it. This legislation will strengthen our election systems and safeguard against federal threats, which is even more timely today after last week's executive order around mail in ballots. Colorado has gold standard elections and one of the highest voter turnout rates in the country. This is in part because we have continuously passed legislation to protect our democratic process, strengthen voter participation and fortify our elections, including through mail and voting, same day voter registration and accessible 24 hour drop boxes. This bill builds upon that work by extending voting windows through sending ballots earlier, allowing polling centers to stay open longer and opening dropboxes sooner. It also increases the number of dropboxes and visibility at higher education institutions, institutions helping to encourage our young folks to vote. And finally, it also enacts cleanup measures related to election judges, clerks and ballot access. This bill will continue…