Grassroots-backed election amendments fall short as House advances HB26-1113

By Jen Schumann | Rocky Mountain Voice

Colorado lawmakers approved a sweeping update to the state’s election laws Tuesday after rejecting several amendments that would have added voter roll verification requirements and expanded cybersecurity standards for election infrastructure.

The vote followed a second-reading debate on HB26-1113 the previous legislative day that centered on election security proposals and questions about the accuracy of Colorado’s voter rolls.

Sponsors describe bill as routine election law update

Rep. Jenny Willford (Adams County) rose first to present HB26-1113 to the chamber.

“The house bill that you have in front of you today is a cleanup bill for elections and voting,” Willford said.

She told colleagues Colorado’s election system already serves as a national example.

“Colorado is a national role model for administering secure, safe and accessible and fair elections.”

Rep. Emily Sirota (Denver County), a co-sponsor, described the bill as part of the periodic review election officials conduct after each election cycle.

“The clerks and elections experts get together and work through our election statute to ensure that we are maintaining this gold standard,” Sirota said.

She noted the measure included updates accumulated over the previous two years.

“We didn’t run one last year, so this is a collection of items from the last two years.”

Credit bureau verification proposal sparks debate

Rep. Mary Bradfield (El Paso County) shifted the focus of the debate when she introduced Amendment L.015. Her proposal called for comparing voter registration addresses with data maintained by major credit bureaus.

Bradfield told colleagues the goal was straightforward: improve the accuracy of voter rolls by comparing voter registration information with address data maintained by credit bureaus.

“It is about the addresses that are on file for the voters,” Bradfield said.

Under the amendment, the Secretary of State could transmit limited voter information—including a person’s first and last name, birth year and residential address—to a third-party credit bureau so discrepancies could be identified and returned to county clerks for review.

Bradfield said the amendment contained safeguards preventing the credit bureau from selling or sharing voter data and emphasized that the results would not automatically change voter registration records.

“This is a tool,” she told colleagues. “It simply gives clerks another way to identify addresses that may no longer be current.”

Several Republican lawmakers spoke in support.

Rep. Jarvis Caldwell (El Paso County) said address verification could reduce undeliverable ballots.

“This is good governance practice,” Caldwell said.

Rep. Stephanie Luck (El Paso County) said improving address accuracy ultimately protects voters.

“Actually what this amendment ensures is the enfranchisement of voters,” Luck said during debate.

Bradfield’s amendment drew opposition from the bill’s sponsors and several Democrats.

Willford acknowledged the persistence of election integrity concerns but questioned the reliability of private credit bureau data.

“Credit bureau agency databases are not designed to support democracy,” she said.

Willford also referenced past data breaches involving credit reporting agencies and argued that Colorado’s existing voter roll maintenance systems already provide safeguards.

Lawmakers rejected the amendment.

Cybersecurity proposal raises election system concerns

Rep. Ken DeGraaf (El Paso County) turned the discussion toward election system cybersecurity with another amendment. It would require tabulation systems to remain isolated from outside networks during vote counting and add multi-factor authentication along with independent annual cybersecurity reviews.

“All election management systems must be air-gapped from external networks during tabulation,” DeGraaf said.

He argued the requirement would reduce the possibility of outside interference with election systems.

During debate, DeGraaf referenced widely discussed security concerns involving election system firmware and BIOS access.

“If you can access the BIOS password on a machine, you can change how that machine operates,” DeGraaf said, warning colleagues that even small vulnerabilities could erode confidence in election results.

For DeGraaf, the issue came down to transparency and security. DeGraaf framed the debate around confidence in the election system. Stronger safeguards, he said, would help restore it. Other Republicans pointed to lawsuits and continuing disputes over election procedures while arguing for additional protections.

Willford pushed back on the amendment. Colorado already has tools for maintaining voter registration lists, Willford told the chamber. Sending that data to private credit bureaus, she added, raises security concerns.

Sirota called for a no vote, saying the amendment relies on terminology that does not appear in Colorado statute. The chamber rejected it.

Party primary amendment also debated

Luck later introduced an amendment addressing how political parties could opt out of Colorado’s open primary system.

She said a party leaving the open primary system would still have several ways to nominate candidates. Those options included an assembly, a convention, a party-run primary election or some combination of the three.

Luck said the amendment was meant to give “the fullness of their membership” a role in selecting nominees rather than leaving the decision solely to convention delegates.

That choice would exclude unaffiliated voters from that primary. Voters who wanted to take part could simply affiliate with the party beforehand, she said.

DeGraaf also spoke in support of the proposal.

“If someone wants to vote in that party’s primary, they can temporarily affiliate,” he said.

The amendment failed.

Other amendments adopted

The House did approve three amendments offered by the bill’s sponsors.

The changes addressed language dealing with presidential electors, voter preregistration procedures and candidate eligibility.

What the bill changes

HB26-1113 modifies several sections of Colorado’s election code. The bill moves up the timeline for mailing ballots before elections and extends the number of days ballot drop boxes may accept ballots. It also establishes minimum voting hours at county jails based on inmate capacity, clarifies the certification duties of canvass boards and repeals a provision allowing voters to challenge another voter’s registration.

Willford pointed to feedback from county clerks and election officials who regularly review how Colorado’s election laws function in practice.

DeGraaf argued the bill should include stronger cybersecurity standards, saying additional safeguards would increase transparency and help restore confidence in election systems. Caldwell focused on voter registration accuracy, calling address verification tools “good governance practice” and urging lawmakers to adopt them.

Grassroots advocacy enters debate

The amendment debate was also drawing attention outside the chamber.

Around the time HB26-1113 began moving through the House, election integrity advocate John Graboski of the Colorado Institute for Fair Elections circulated an email to several Republican lawmakers outlining amendment ideas related to voter roll verification. The note turned to ballot circulation timelines and how those changes could affect the flow of ballots through Colorado’s election system.

“Lengthening ballot circulation and drop box access… results in more ballots in transit,” he wrote.

The credit bureau verification amendment debated on the House floor reflected many of the same concerns raised in the email.

Final House vote

The House approved HB26-1113 on third reading by a 41–22 vote. The measure now awaits consideration in the Senate.