Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold, who is seeking re-election, warned in an interview with the Guardian published Sunday that Americans need to pay close attention to secretary of state races across the country to safeguard voting rights.
Why it matters: Democrats have been sharpening their focus on secretary of state races to ensure the results of the 2024 presidential election aren't overturned.
- There are 27 secretaries of state contests on U.S. ballots this year — for 13 offices held by Democrats, 13 held by Republicans and one — in North Dakota — held by an independent, Axios' Alexi McCammond writes.
- A number of Republican candidates for secretaries of state have echoed former President Trump's unfounded claims about the 2020 election.
What they're saying: “What we can expect from the extreme Republicans running across this country is to undermine free and fair elections for the American people, strip Americans of the right to vote, refuse to address security breaches and, unfortunately, be more beholden to Mar-a-Lago than the American people,” Griswold, who chairs the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State, told the Guardian.
- “For us, we are trying to save democracy," she said.
- “The country could lose the right to vote in less than three months," she added, warning that Trump-backed candidates could use their posts to subvert election results or raise doubts about elections their party loses.
- “We must reject that it is partisan to protect the right to vote. It’s not,” Griswold said. “It’s the most American and democratic thing you can do.”
