Colorado lawmakers advance bill to protect elections workers

By JAMES ANDERSON
Associated Press

DENVER (AP) — A Colorado legislative panel has advanced a bill to add protections for elections workers. Thursday’s vote came after testimony about escalating threats that have prompted many of the workers to quit or to take security training courses to continue their public-service work. Elections officials say their workers from municipal front-office staff to the state’s highest-ranking elections officials have experienced an escalation of threats since the 2020 presidential election. The threats delivered by email, phone, or by posting on social media of home addresses of workers have left some authorities confronting staff shortages before Colorado’s June primaries and the November midterms.