El Paso County Clerk and Recorder refutes claims of postal delays, backs county’s election system

COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. (KRDO) -- The 2020 presidential election is expected to be a big one for mail-in voting because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Though there have been reports of postal delays across the country, El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Chuck Broerman says that's not the case in Colorado.

Broerman says the county has worked with the postal service for years, and he’s confident they’ll get voters their ballots with plenty of time to vote by mail.

So what happens to your ballot after it's mailed in or placed in a dropbox? Broerman says each ballot, regardless of how it is submitted, is monitored every step of the way by bipartisan election judges.

Every ballot is also put through scanning machines to check the authenticity of signatures on each one.

The election tabulation system in El Paso County is self-contained, meaning your votes are being counted in a room with cybersecurity and no networks to any outside sources.

Coloradans have been able to vote via mail since 2013. El Paso County has already had more than 10 elections under the hybrid mail-in format.

In the 2016 U.S. presidential election, nearly a quarter of votes were cast by mail. That number is expected to grow this year because of the pandemic.

Broerman says he believes the postal service can keep up with the demand.

"They are well situated with funding, with money they have in reserve and with overtime hours, to get the job done," says Broerman. "I have the utmost confidence in the postal service."

The El Paso County Clerk and Recorders Office will be mailing out ballots for the presidential election on October 9.

Postmark dates do not count in Colorado's elections. Ballots sent in by mail still must be received on Election Day, November 3, by 7 p.m.

If you aren't comfortable voting by mail, there are other options.

On top of the 36 drop boxes around the county, there will also be an additional 35 in-person voting centers with boxes inside where you can also turn in your ballot.