Why do Pueblo County ballot envelopes have a hole in them? Here's what we know

Ballot envelopes sent to Pueblo County voters for the 2023 coordinated election have a hole in the middle — and do not include a secrecy sleeve.

Some of the candidates on the ballot are publicly taking issue with the hole in the envelope, which they say could compromise the results of the election.

Here’s what we know about why there’s a hole in the ballots and what voters can do if they are concerned.

Why is there a hole in Pueblo County ballot envelopes?

Pueblo County stated in a press release, shared with several television news outlets on Friday and sent to the Chieftain on Monday upon request, that “the hole will not reveal the choices citizens make on the ballot.”

But depending on how voters put their ballots back into the envelope, bubbles corresponding to candidates are visible in the envelope hole, potentially revealing their vote.

The other side of the envelope includes voters’ signature line, as well as their name and mailing address.

The county's press release says that the envelope hole is for elections staff to see if a ballot is in the envelope or not and to “fulfill mailing purposes” with the United States Postal Service.

“The hole in the envelope is a tool that is commonly used across the state, and is not a problem,” the release states.

The release also states that the envelope design was approved by the Colorado Secretary of State’s office.

Jack Todd, a spokesperson for the Secretary of State, confirmed in an email that Pueblo’s election plan — which includes ballot design and voting center locations — was approved. He said that “a number of counties” include holes in ballot return envelopes.

“Some counties choose to use a hole in the ballot return envelope as a tool to verify that all ballot cards have been removed from a voter’s return envelope,” Todd said. “In a statewide primary election, a hole is also used to efficiently sort ballots returned by unaffiliated voters based on which party ballot they chose to return.”

What happened to the secrecy sleeve?

It is unclear why a secrecy sleeve, which has previously been included in ballots mailed by Pueblo County in the past, was not included this year. The reason for the change was not addressed in the county’s press release and Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder Candace Rivera did not respond Monday to a request for additional information.

However, secrecy sleeves are not required under Colorado law, according to the national conference of state legislatures.

What can voters do if they're concerned?

Voters can include the extra page containing voter instructions and/or fold the ballot in another way “to allow for extra security,” the county stated in its release.

The voter instructions state that “the official return envelope may only contain your ballot” in the context of including other peoples’ ballots in a single envelope.

What some candidates are saying

Mayoral candidate Chris Nicoll held a press conference in front of the Pueblo city clerk’s office Monday afternoon to share his concerns about the hole in the ballot envelope.

Nicoll said that the hole in the envelope leaves room for voters’ information to be vulnerable and easily exploited, which could affect the outcome of the election. He said that people turning in ballots for others — Colorado law allows one person to turn in up to 10 ballots on behalf of other people — could compromise election results if they choose to omit ballots from people who didn’t vote for the candidate they support.

Nicoll also took issue with how the clerk’s office has been communicating with the public: he said that the press release from the county with advice about what voters can do has not been published online and was not sent to all local media outlets.

Mayoral candidates Heather Graham and Randy Thurston also spoke with local TV station KRDO Friday about their concerns.

Nicoll said that he has trusted the election process as a local candidate before but questioned why the secrecy sleeve was not included for this year’s election.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Nicoll said.

However, Nicoll said that he wasn’t concerned about how the order of candidates was determined in a random drawing in early September, coordinated by City Clerk Marisa Stoller.

Nicoll said that Stoller’s method for picking the ballot order was “creative” — mayoral candidates randomly selected flags and city council candidates picked up cookies corresponding to their position on the ballot.

Pueblo elections 2023: Who's running for mayor, councilor? Begin to get answers here

Anna Lynn Winfrey covers politics for the Pueblo Chieftain. She can be reached at awinfrey@gannett.com or on Twitter, @annalynnfrey.

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: Why do Pueblo County ballots envelopes have a hole? Here's what we know