Recount request by Peters and Hanks would cost $236,279.37 each

July 14, 2022 Shannon Lukens

By Shannon Lukens.

UPDATE at 5:44 p.m. Friday from the Secretary of State’s Office: At this time, the Department has not received certified funds from either candidate. The Secretary of State’s Office has followed all statutes regarding the requests for recounts and will continue to do so.

Two people have made requests for a recount from the Colorado Secretary of State’s office. They are Tina Peters and Ron Hanks.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s office tells Steamboat Radio News tonight that their office has responded to both candidates that the estimated cost to recount their races is $236,279.37. Should they choose to go forward with the recount, certified funds to cover the amount must be paid to the Secretary of State’s office on July 15.

Here is what the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office sent to both of the former candidates, Tina Peters and Ron Hanks, today.

Our office is in receipt of your request for a statewide recount of the Republican Party U.S. Senate Primary race. Pursuant to section 1-10.5-106 (2), C.R.S., and Election Rule 10.10.2, our office has gathered recount cost estimates from all 64 counties. Based on the information provided by all 64 counties, the estimated cost to recount this race is $236,279.37. In accordance with section 1-10.5-102(3)(b), C.R.S., and Election Rule 10.13.1, the recount will be conducted in the same manner as the initial tabulation in each county.

To proceed with this recount, section 1-10.5-106 (2) requires you, as the interested party, to deposit with our office $236,279.37 as certified funds sufficient to cover the full estimated cost of the recount no later than tomorrow, July 15^th, 2022. These funds will then be held in escrow to cover the costs of the recount in each county in the event that the recount does not result in amended results which would fall within the automatic recount range or would reverse the outcome.

You may submit the full estimated cost of the recount to our office by cashier’s check, certified check, or bank money order, payable to “Colorado Department of State”. Payment may be delivered to our office during regular business hours (8AM-5PM), located at 1700 Broadway, Suite 550, Denver, CO 80290. Alternatively, you may submit payment via ACH or wire transfer. For directions to submit payment via this method, please contact me directly, and I will provide you that information over the phone.

If we do not receive full payment by tomorrow, July 15^th, your request for a recount will denied and no recount will occur.

Sincerely,

Here’s more on what transpired with the recount requests on Thursday.

A request from Tina Peters in the 2022 Republican Primary Election for Secretary of State was received Thursday morning. Peters had 28.86% of the votes in the Republican Primary, which is 180,036 out of 623,786. She was just ahead of Mike O’Donnell. Pam Anderson won the primary for the Republican Party.

Ron Hanks also requested a recount Wednesday in the 2022 Republican Primary Election Race for U.S. Senate. Hanks had 45.54% of the primary vote with 288,464 votes out of 633,488. Joe O’Dea won the primary for the Republican Party.

In a letter to the Secretary of State’s Office, Ron Hanks wrote, “There are significant indications malfeasance occurred in the June 28, 2022 primary, and the reported outcome of this election does not accurately reflect the will of Colorado voters in the race for US Senate or in other statewide races, as well as district and county races.”

In the letter from Tina Peters, she wrote, “I have reasons to believe extensive malfeasance occurred in the June 2022 primary, and that the apparent outcome of this election does not reflect the will of Colorado voters not only for myself but also for many other America First statewide and local primary delegates.”

Both candidates have asked for all Cast Vote Records, ballot dropbox records including video surveillance, all records pertaining to signature verification, all records and reports related to voter registration and voting history, and all electronic voting system logs specified in the 2002 Voting System Standards mandated by CRS Title 1 Article 5, Part 6 be provided to canvassing boards as part of the recount process pursuant to e.g. CRS 1-10.5-107 (3).

The state statute says the Secretary of State’s Office must provide the cost for a recount within one day of receiving the request, based off of quotes supplied by all 64 counties. That number has not yet been released.

https://results.enr.clarityelections.com/…/web.285569/…

Here’s more from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office on Thursday, July 14.

Statement to be attributed to the Secretary of State’s Office:

“The Secretary of State’s Office has received formal notices requesting a recount from Ron Hanks for the 2022 Republican Primary Election Race for U.S. Senate and Tina Peters for the 2022 Republican Primary Election Race for Secretary of State. The Secretary of State’s Office will follow all the steps required by Colorado Statute regarding any request for a recount.”

Background:

Statute: C.R.S. 1-10.5-106

(1) As used in this section, “interested party” means the candidate who lost the election, the political party or political organization of such candidate, any petition representative identified pursuant to section 1-40-113 for a ballot issue or ballot question that did not pass at the election, the governing body that referred a ballot question or ballot issue to the electorate if such ballot question or ballot issue did not pass at the election, or the agent of an issue committee that is required to report contributions pursuant to the “Fair Campaign Practices Act”, article 45 of this title, that either supported a ballot question or ballot issue that did not pass at the election or opposed a ballot question or ballot issue that passed at the election.

(2) Whenever a recount is not required, an interested party may submit a notarized written request for recount at the expense of the interested party making the request. This request shall be filed with the secretary of state, the county clerk and recorder, the designated election official, or other governing body that originally certified the candidate, ballot question, or ballot issue for the ballot within twenty-eight days after any primary, general, or coordinated election.

Such election official shall notify the political subdivision within which the election was held no later than the day following receipt of the request.

Before conducting the recount, the election official who will conduct the recount shall determine the cost of the recount within one day of receiving the request to recount, notify the interested party that requested the recount of the cost, and collect the costs of conducting the recount. If the request is filed with the secretary of state, the secretary of state shall determine the cost of the recount by adding the individual amounts determined by the political subdivisions conducting the recount.

The interested party that requested the recount shall pay the cost of the recount by certified funds to the election official with whom the request for a recount was filed within one day of receiving the election official’s cost determination.

The funds shall be placed in escrow for payment of all expenses incurred in the recount. If after the recount the result of the election is reversed in favor of the interested party that requested the recount or if the amended election count is such that a recount otherwise would have been required, the payment for expenses shall be refunded to the interested party that requested the recount.

Any escrow amounts not refunded to the interested party that requested the recount shall be paid to the election officials who conducted the recount.

Any recount of votes pursuant to this section shall be completed no later than the thirty-seventh day after any primary, general, or coordinated election.