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On the five-year anniversary of 2020, Michigan court moves goalposts on attorneys who exposed Antrim County’s machines
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, National, Top Stories

On the five-year anniversary of 2020, Michigan court moves goalposts on attorneys who exposed Antrim County’s machines

By A.L. Goodwin | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Five years after the 2020 election, Michigan courts are still litigating its aftermath. At the center are two attorneys, Stefanie Lambert and Matt DePerno, who led the Antrim County lawsuit that first exposed errors in the county’s vote tabulation. What began as a civil discovery dispute has now turned into a criminal prosecution—one that critics say rewrites the law after the fact and redefines ordinary litigation as “unauthorized possession” of election equipment. On November 3, 2025—the five-year mark of the 2020 election—the Michigan prosecution of attorneys Matt DePerno and Stephanie Lambert took a troubling turn. The Oakland County Circuit Court order (Case No. 2023-285759-FH) leaves no question where the balance tilts. J...
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When the prosecutor is also the judge: Colorado’s due process problem under Griswold’s watch
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Colorado Accountability Project, Approved, Commentary, State

When the prosecutor is also the judge: Colorado’s due process problem under Griswold’s watch

By Cory Gaines | Commentary, Colorado Accountability Project I wouldn’t blame someone for thinking the fix is in at a Colorado Administrative Law hearing (especially in the SOS’s Office). If you break one of our state regulatory agencies’ copious rules, the process for our state’s administrative hearings bears little resemblance to a real trial. I recently did some looking into the state’s administrative hearings process, and was disappointed in what I found.The idea of this being a hearing in front of an independent, nominally-impartial, and disinterested judge is decidedly NOT what the process looks like.This goes, as you might imagine for an office run by Jena Griswold, double for the Secretary of State’s Office.More in the op ed below.https://completecolorado.com/2025/09/22/p...
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Colorado Officials Block GOP Pick for House Seat Over Vacancy Rule Dispute
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The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

Colorado Officials Block GOP Pick for House Seat Over Vacancy Rule Dispute

By Jesse Paul | The Colorado Sun The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office told the GOP vacancy committee in House District 14 that its members did not get 10 days of notice ahead of making their appointment as is required by state law. State elections officials Monday rejected a Republican vacancy committee’s pick for a seat in the Colorado legislature, finding that the panel didn’t follow state law in making the selection.  The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office told the GOP vacancy committee in House District 14 that its members did not get 10 days of notice ahead the gathering to make their appointment as is required by state law. The committee was picking a replacement for former House Minority Leader Rose Pugliese. She resigned Sept. 15. The vacancy vote was he...
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Has AI Begun Transforming Employment in the Colorado Legal Services Industry?
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Has AI Begun Transforming Employment in the Colorado Legal Services Industry?

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The two biggest ongoing threats to democracy in Colorado are the less-than-competent Secretary of State, Jena Griswold, and Colorado’s Supreme Court. You will recall that last year both blocked the inclusion of Donald Trump’s name on the November 2024 presidential ballot in Colorado only to have the nation’s Supreme Court definitively overrule both. I didn’t notice anyone getting into trouble or apologizing for those blatant attacks on democracy but it managed to get me thinking (no mean feat) about the legal profession in general and whether it was changing in Colorado in the face of artificial intelligence (AI). Admittedly, I’m personally not a big fan of AI because, just like history, it is crafted by the victors / the ...
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Gold standard or clear failure? Colorado trails 36 nations on election rules.
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Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Gold standard or clear failure? Colorado trails 36 nations on election rules.

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s election rulebook emphasizes convenience—automatic mail ballots, long voting windows and ballot harvesting—exactly where most countries draw hard lines. That philosophical split is why Colorado lands at 50 out of 100 in a new international survey, and why the authors behind it want an on-the-record conversation with the secretary of state. “We’d love to speak with your secretary of state… we’ll ask questions and she can ask questions,” said Gary Meyers, who co-authored the study with Jay DeLancy. Meyers explained that The Meyers Report is a long-running research group, active for more than forty years, with contributors spread across 30 countries. “We’re interested in truth, we’re interested in fairness,” he said, describing a team...
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Colorado election results may violate 1946 Secret Ballots Amendment
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

Colorado election results may violate 1946 Secret Ballots Amendment

By Mike O’Donnell | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice The Colorado Constitution guarantees the right for citizens to vote in secret.  Article VII, Section 8 states that all elections by the people shall be by ballot, and no ballots shall be marked in any way that would allow the ballot to be identified as the ballot of a particular person. And in 1946, Colorado voters approved the Secret Ballots Amendment that explicitly provided for secret ballots.  However, if a voter voluntarily shares how he or she voted, they may do so. Colorado Revised Statute §1-13-712 says that any voter who makes available an image of the voter’s own ballot through electronic means, after it is prepared for voting, is deemed to have consented to the transmittal of that image. So i...
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When watchdogs reached out, only two clerks answered: Colorado’s election crisis exposed
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Rocky Mountain Voice, Approved, Commentary, State, Top Stories

When watchdogs reached out, only two clerks answered: Colorado’s election crisis exposed

By Bill Lehman, Heidi Ganahl | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado’s election system is facing a crisis of confidence, with voters increasingly skeptical due to incidents like Arapahoe County’s mishandled 2020 Cast Vote Record and the Secretary of State’s office leaking 600 BIOS passwords during the 2024 election. Leaking 600 BIOS passwords is the civic version of leaving the house key under the doormat and then posting a photo of the doormat. These failures, alongside persistent reports of irregularities, undermine the narrative that Colorado's elections are the “gold standard.”  Public trust continues to erode as evidence of vulnerabilities mounts, yet one county’s efforts illustrate how clerks can make important improvements—though systemic issues demand far broader...
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Colorado halts TRACER after Minnesota murders so lawmakers can redact personal info
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denvergazette.com, State

Colorado halts TRACER after Minnesota murders so lawmakers can redact personal info

By Marianne Goodland | Denver Gazette State lawmakers can remove personal information before TRACER site restored TRACER, the Secretary of State's campaign finance website, was taken down on Saturday in the wake of the shootings of four individuals, including two lawmakers, in Minnesota. Two of the victims, Minnesota state Rep. Melissa Hortman and her husband, were killed in the attack by an individual who posed as a police officer. Minnesota state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife were also shot but are expected to recover. According to NPR, the suspect, Vance Boelter, had a "hit list" of 45 state officials, all Democrats. He was taken into custody Sunday and has been charged with state and federal murder charges. TRACER, aka Transparency in Contribution and Expenditure Report...
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Trump, Rubio move to dismantle ‘Deep State’ grip on national security
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Approved, Axios, National

Trump, Rubio move to dismantle ‘Deep State’ grip on national security

By Marc Caputo and Alex Isenstadt | Axios President Trump and Secretary of State Marco Rubio have orchestrated a vast restructuring of the National Security Council, reducing its size and transferring many of its powers to the State and Defense departments. Why it matters: Trump's White House sees the NSC as notoriously bureaucratic and filled with longtime officials who don't share the president's vision. A White House official involved in the planning characterized the reorganization as Trump and Rubio's latest move against what they see as Washington's "Deep State." "The NSC is the ultimate Deep State. It's Marco vs. the Deep State. We're gutting the Deep State," the official said of the move, which will cut the NSC staff to about half of its current 350...
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Statewide and congressional contests heat up early as candidates line up for 2026
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Approved, Colorado Politics, State

Statewide and congressional contests heat up early as candidates line up for 2026

By Ernest Luning | Colorado Politics Colorado's political world is in as close to a lull as it's likely to get this cycle — six months past the 2024 general election, days after the end of this year's regular legislative session, and with just over a year to go until voters begin casting primary ballots. Major candidates for the state's most prominent and competitive 2026 contests have already emerged, but many are about to get more company. Like at the beginning of a fundraising quarter, the immediate aftermath of the General Assembly's 120 day session is prime calendar real estate to launch campaigns for higher offices, for a couple of reasons: State lawmakers finally again have some control over their schedule and can turn their attention to campaigning, while other hopefuls ca...
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