Man pleads guilty to 2022 election fraud in Routt County general election

DENVER (KDVR) — A Routt County man pleaded guilty Tuesday to mail-in ballot/election fraud, according to the Routt County Clerk and Recorder’s Office.

According to the Routt office, a person living in the county attempted to vote multiple times during the 2022 general election. Because the Clerk and Recorder’s Office takes steps to check the credibility of every election, the office was able to see that multiple ballots were returned for the same voter.

In a release, the office said the offense is “rare” and this was “immediately identified.” The man’s ballot was referred to the district attorney for investigation, according to the Clerk and Recorder’s Office.

“We want the citizens of Routt County to know that we are working hard every election to identify any type of election offense, and we have processes in place to catch this type of fraud,” said Jenny Thomas, Routt County Clerk and Recorder. “I appreciate the hard work of the Routt County Elections Division and the Office of the District Attorney. We will continue to work hard for the citizens of Routt County and prosecute anyone who violates our election laws.”

The individual was not named by the county release but pleaded guilty to a class 2 misdemeanor of mail-in ballot/election fraud and was sentenced to supervised probation and 20 days in jail.

The sentence did not need to be served immediately, according to Steamboat Radio‘s Shannon Lukens. Lukens said he has until Aug. 30 to complete his sentence. She also said after speaking with Thomas, she learned that the voter was registered unaffiliated.