Colorado lawmakers will consider whether to make it harder for candidates who lose by a wide margin to request a recount.

The proposal stems in part from a statewide recount last year that was conducted at the request of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters. She lost the Republican primary for secretary of state by 88,579 votes, or around 14 points. The recount found 13 additional votes for Peters and the primary’s winner, Pamela Anderson.

Right now any candidate can request a discretionary recount, as long as they have the funds to pay for it. State rules require publicly funded recounts when the margin in a race ends up less than 0.5 percent apart.

Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold said she’s concerned discretionary recounts can be used to spread distrust in the election system.

“Democracy should not be exploited by candidates who lost by massive margins to spread disinformation, but also to really just make it harder for county clerks and election officials to do their job,” said Griswold.

The legislation has not yet been introduced, but under Griswold’s proposal, discretionary recounts would only be allowed if the original margin is within 2 percent.

Griswold noted that Peters’ recount led to no change in the results and contradicted her false claims about alleged election fraud.

“There's a point at which the margins are so big that you can count the ballots 2, 3, 4, 5, 6 times, and then it's not gonna change the outcome,” said Griswold, adding that limiting...

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