'We are trying to save democracy': Colorado secretary of state on the importance of local elections

Colorado's Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold warned in an interview published in The Guardian on Sunday, August 28th that nothing less than the right to vote is on the ballot in November's midterm elections.

“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 predicted.

“For us, we are trying to save democracy," said Griswold, who chairs the Democratic Association of Secretaries of State (DASS).

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Griswold explained that her biggest fear is that candidates backed by former President Donald Trump seeking offices that oversee state election procedures could actually win and endanger the franchise for Americans who refuse to subscribe to the GOP's increasingly right-wing ideology.

Although she stressed that "the country could lose the right to vote in less than three months," Griswold is maintaining optimism that Coloradans deciding between herself and Republican nominee Pam Anderson – a former county clerk who has rejected Trump's stolen election conspiracy theories – grasp the urgent need to protect democracy in their state and across the nation.

Anderson's Trump-endorsed primary opponent Tina Peters – who baselessly claimed that "fraud" led to her loss to Anderson – was arrested for a second time in July and charged with ten felony and misdemeanor counts of allegedly tampering with voting machines. A recount confirmed Anderson's victory.

Nonetheless, Griswold emphasized to The Guardian that “the stakes are really high but I also think people understand what’s at stake and that’s why you’re seeing this level of enthusiasm."

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Griswold cited her organization, DASS, and its rapid growth within the last year as evidence of enhanced public awareness.

"There’s a huge amount of enthusiasm from Democratic donors and the grassroots,” she explained while cautioning that "the Republicans are also seeing a lot of enthusiasm.”

The conversation continues here.

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