Secretary of State Mike Coffman responds to New York Times "inaccuracies."
DENVER, COLO. -- Colorado officials are disputing a report by The New York Times that they illegally purged voters ahead of next month's election.
The article, printed Thursday, said tens of thousands of eligible voters, in at least six swing states, had been removed from rolls or had been blocked from registering in ways that appeared to violate federal law.
The Times said it reviewed state records and social security data to find their information.
Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman said the Times article referenced inaccurate numbers related to voter registration. He said Colorado voters can rest assured that the state's county clerks take every precaution in maintaining voter rolls.
"At this point we know we have done exactly what all Colorado clerk's offices have done, exactly what we were supposed to do in canceling duplicate voters as we find them, canceling deceased voters, canceling voters who have moved, so nothing has changed with that," El Paso County Assistant Election Manager Liz Olson said.
She said as far as she knows her office has not violated any federal law.
In revisiting the numbers, Coffman's office said the state did identify 2,454 duplicate voter records that were canceled within the 90-day window referenced in the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).
"At this point it appears the Secretary of State's office is going to get direction on those duplicate voters that were canceled from the attorney general's office, and they will make a determination if they are reinstated or not," Olson said.
Last year Coffman said the state began developing the statewide voter registration database and consolidating the voter records of 64 counties into one system, launched in April.
He said the state has been scrutinizing voter rolls because of that change.
Thursday the Secretary of State's office provided a report from Colorado's statewide system that includes all canceled voters since July 21 of this year, and the reasons for cancellation. They are listed below.
Reasons for Cancellation:
1.) Moved out of County/State 6,572
2.) Duplicate 4,343
3.) Failed 20-day period 1,136
4.) Deceased 1,145
5.) Convicted Felon 544
6.) Withdrawn 203
7.) Not a Citizen 13
8.) Voter Fraud 2
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