Last week, 100 Homeland Security and FBI agents raided the offices of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative (OOC), which runs one of the most effective voter registration programs in the nation. The organization’s offices were searched, computers were confiscated, and organizers, leaders, and volunteers with the OOC were questioned and intimidated by federal agents.
While Ohio is thousands of miles away from Western Colorado, this action is a threat to elections across the country and a direct attempt to undermine the democratic process. This is not new in Western Colorado, where former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters orchestrated a breach of Mesa County’s election security systems in the spring of 2021 on debunked conspiracy theories and disinformation related to the 2020 presidential election. Voters and elected officials from both sides of the aisle were swift to condemn Peters, and in 2024, she was found guilty by a jury on seven criminal counts and sentenced to nine years in federal prison.
Here in Western Colorado and across this country, voters chose their leaders, not the other way around.
To respond to this moment, our Alliance and our parent network, the Western Organization of Resource Councils, is hosting an online session with the Brennan Center for Justice on July 1 at 3 pm to learn what we can do to ensure free and fair elections in Western Colorado.
Together, we have the power to protect our elections and ensure that every single voter is able to exercise their rights and participate in our democracy. Our Alliance is determined and committed to ensuring that elections are free and fair in Western Colorado and across the country. Please join us!