Pueblo District Attorney warns voters of common ballot mistakes ahead of November elections

PUEBLO, Colo.(KRDO) -- 10th Judicial District Attorney Jeff Chostner is warning Pueblo County voters about a commonly made ballot mistake. The DA told KRDO he wants to make sure every vote counts in the upcoming election.

According to Chostner, his office sent out 400 election letters warning voters Monday who made mistakes in the June 2022 Primary Elections. Those people should receive those letters any day now.

That letter states that the Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder's Office noted that the signature on the mail-in ballot did not match the voter's signature on file.

Pueblo district attorney, Jeff Chostner, told KRDO that his office has sent out 400 election letters warning voters who have made mistakes in the June 2022 primary election on Monday. Chostner said these individuals should expect to receive the letter any day.

He said his office sent out 900 letters to those who voted in the local elections in November of 2021.

While the number of people receiving those letters is relatively small compared to the number of Pueblo voters, he still doesn't want those people to miss out on having their votes count.

"I think these letters matter because, one, it lets the public know that we're watching that fraudulent voting can be detected, will be detected. But it also is a helpful device to let people who have made an unknowing mistake make sure their vote counts next time. We want to encourage proper, accurate, legitimate voting to take place. So this letter actually helps those people ensure that their vote counts," said Chostner.

Chostner acknowledges that there is some mistrust in elections and wants voters to know that they're doing everything in their ability to make sure their vote is counted in the election.

Chostner told KRDO that if the county clerk can't resolve that discrepancy, those names are sent to his office for further investigation and discussion.

The second kind of discrepancy happens during primary years. Those who are unaffiliated receive two ballots, one Republican and one Democrat. They can only vote on one of those ballots. Chostner said. Unfortunately, many people vote for both of them. They think they can vote twice because they've received two ballots, but it's a mistake if this mistake is made; the ballot doesn't count.

However, the mistake to be on the lookout for this upcoming election is the discrepancies between signatures.

Chostner said most of the time, voters don't know, or it's simply an accident. But, he wants voters to know he has and will prosecute anyone who tries to commit fraud in any election.

In the last ten years, Chostner has only prosecuted six people for voter fraud.