An elections security bill signed by Gov. Jared Polis last week codifies the curriculum for the certification program county clerks and election workers must complete, a move that leaders hope will ensure clerk expertise and contribute to the professionalization of the industry.
“These certification programs really help bolster the knowledge and skills and abilities of the people that are working elections. In Colorado, this is the next step for that,” Matt Crane, the executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association said in an interview.
SB22-153 was billed by lawmakers as an attempt to limit “insider threats” to elections, such as the one Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters is alleged to have posed by facilitating a security breach in her county’s elections office in 2021. The law includes provisions such as physical security requirements and restrictions on who can access voting equipment.
It also puts certain certification program curricula into statute and requires clerks to complete the program, which is administered by the Secretary of State’s office, within six months of taking office or before they oversee their first election. Before, they had to pass the program within two years.
Specifically, the law mandates courses in general election law, the federal Help America Vote Act of 2002, professional development, voter registration and list maintenance,...
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