By Jen Schumann | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice
Mesa County launched a first-of-its-kind ballot transparency tool last month, allowing residents to view redacted ballot images and corresponding cast vote records online—without filing a CORA request. Supporters say it could reshape public trust in elections. Others say it doesn’t go far enough.
But one thing is certain: Mesa County is at the heart of a national battle over election integrity, and the Ballot Verifier came to fruition out of demand — and the innovation of an election stats company that wanted to answer to it.
Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Bobbie Gross said the tool was made possible by an initial $30,000 investment to develop the system and redaction process. “I believe $20,000 every year to keep it going,” she said. “But they’ll do as many elections as we want.”
The software allows the public to follow the entire path of a ballot—from image to vote.
This article is Part 1 of a three-part series on the Ballot Verifier: Mesa’s launch, Ada County’s pilot and the debate over election transparency laws.
Making public records truly public
Gross said one of her top priorities was removing barriers to election data. “It’s all there,” she said, referring to the Ballot Verifier’s online ballot and vote image library. “They can download these, they can conduct their own citizen hand count if they would like to.”
In the past, residents who wanted to view ballots often had to file a CORA request, pay a steep fee and wait for redactions. “I’ve seen quotes for $20,000. That’s a lot of money… for an individual to come up with to get access to this record.” Now, she said, that burden is gone. “This will provide most of all the requests that I’ve seen.”
How Mesa County built the Ballot Verifier
The idea, intent and troubleshooting to make it a reality has been in the works for over a year-and-a-half. “We started going through those ballot images in November of 2023,” Gross said. “We thought we could do this in-house as time allowed.”
But the process quickly proved more time-consuming than expected. “We were like, yeah, we can probably do this in-house… but it was taking a lot longer than we anticipated. We had our election judges come in and help us… but that was getting us only a little closer to what we wanted.”
The real challenge, she said, wasn’t gathering the ballot images—it was redacting them. “This is our bottleneck—it’s getting the ballot images up because of the redaction part.”
That’s when Gross reached out to Civera. “We said, this is what we want to do. This is really what we want to do and this is our bottleneck,” she recalled. “So they said, ‘We’re going to work with you.’”
Gross said they began working with Civera in spring 2024 and secured funding by June. From there, the buildout and testing began.
“We had to make sure the information was correct, verifiable and built the way we wanted. We had to test all of our elections… and look at every detail.”
What the Ballot Verifier actually does
Now that it’s launched, she said, the software not only allows users to view ballot images but see exactly how they were interpreted.
“This is as open as elections can get. You’re able to click on a ballot image and see exactly what it was interpreted as. And if something was adjudicated, you’re able to see that side-by-side.”
She added, “You don’t have to trust just what we tell you. You can go look at it yourself.”
Gross said she welcomes citizen-led audits and emphasized that each ballot image includes a visible identifier that matches the filename of the digital ballot image, allowing any member of the public to trace a ballot image to its corresponding paper ballot if formally reviewed by election officials.
Support from Mesa County commissioners
“The Ballot Verifier provides the voters with additional tools and resources to ensure their vote is counted.” Fletcher added, “Mesa County has added more layers of transparency and we are using a third-party company to team with Mesa County to provide these steps.”
Commissioner Bobbie Daniel said the tool builds on previous transparency efforts and removes barriers for everyday citizens. “We have supported funding initiatives that ensure public confidence in our elections, including putting ballots online for every Mesa County Clerk election since the 2021 school board race.” Daniel added, “Supporting funding for the Ballot Verifier is a natural extension of that commitment.”
Daniel emphasized that the Ballot Verifier eliminates the need for costly CORA requests, allowing all voters to see how ballots were marked and counted. “We are eliminating the need for individuals to submit costly CORA requests and providing immediate access to ballots and how they were interpreted by election judges.”
She added, “This opens up the election verification process to every citizen, regardless of their financial means.”
Commissioner Cody Davis agreed, echoing Daniel’s assessment.
Mesa County Clerk Bobbie Gross giving a demonstration of the Ballot Verifier at the April 8 Mesa County GOP meeting
Mesa County voters respond
Ahead of the launch, the Clerk and Recorder’s Office conducted a public outreach campaign to promote the Ballot Verifier, using social media, the county website, direct emails and a YouTube video.
Gross also extended personal invitations to several civic and political groups—including the League of Women Voters, Restore the Balance and both major political parties—to visit the Clerk’s office and learn about the system firsthand. She said only Republican residents responded with interest to learn more.
On April 8, Gross gave a formal presentation on the Ballot Verifier at the Mesa County GOP meeting. The event drew praise, questions and commentary from attendees who welcomed the chance to explore the software directly.
Several attendees praised the effort while asking questions.
Melinda Guthrie, a Mesa County Republican who has been active in local elections since 2003, said the tool could help restore voter confidence. “It’ll help people feel confident in their vote.” She added, “We still have people who say, ‘My vote won’t count.’ But now they can see for themselves. That’s the value.”
When asked whether the $20,000 annual cost was worth it, she said, “Yeah. For a county this size? I do. I think that’s a decent price.” She continued, “The ballots are connected to the images that are counted… It’s worth it.”
Jim Hargis, a Mesa County resident of 11 years, said the Ballot Verifier addresses a long-standing concern. “From the time it is sent with mail, received here, posted—you know, everything’s gotta be accountable for. The numbers have to match.”
He described the software as similar to a third-party audit, like what he saw happen in Maricopa County. “It’s almost the same kind of audit or similar audit to what they did in Maricopa County by an independent person.”
Hargis added that this tool pushes back on the idea that voting isn’t worthwhile. “It reverses the whole idea that it’s not worth voting. Every single vote is accounted for.”
He emphasized that while it’s not the final step in accountability, it is a foundational one. “Now what’s left to do is for the state to allow us to verify the ballot send-out,” he said.
A start, not the finish
County leaders say they hope the Ballot Verifier will be a step in the right direction. Mesa County’s new tool may not answer every question—but it’s a significant move toward rebuilding trust.
“Ultimately, these are the people’s records. It didn’t feel good to me to not be able to release them.” Gross added, “I think it’s worth the investment to have people trust the elections and to be able to audit them.”
Access the Mesa County Ballot Verifier here: https://www.mesacounty.us/departments-and-services/clerk-and-recorder/elections/voter-information-elections/mesa-county
This article is Part 1 of a three-part series.
• Read Part 2: How Idaho’s Ballot Verifier turned critics into fans
• Read Part 3: Colorado law limits voters from verifying their own ballots