This story by Zoe Schacht appeared on Colorado Newsline on July 25, 2022.
With time running out to request a recount of the Colorado primary election, Republican candidates who lost held a fundraising event in Colorado Springs Sunday evening. The event, “Colorado Recount Fundraiser,” included multiple losing candidates.
During the event, speakers directed attendees and livestream viewers to visit the website of the Colorado Recount Coalition to donate to candidates. The website lists nine candidates, including Tina Peters and Ron Hanks, election conspiracy theorists who deny the results of the 2020 presidential election.
Peters, the Mesa County clerk, was a candidate for secretary of state, and Hanks was a candidate for U.S. Senate. They previously submitted a request for a recount to the secretary of state’s office but failed to provide funds for the effort in time.
“We know they cheated,” Peters said during the event. Claims that results of the primary election were compromised have not been substantiated.
The Colorado Recount Coalition website says that candidates will be “demanding” a hand recount of the June 28 primary. But a hand recount is not possible, according to Annie Orloff, spokesperson for Secretary of State Jena Griswold. A recount can still be requested through Tuesday, but it must be conducted in the same manner as the original election, which was tallied through tabulation machines, Orloff said.
Though Peters and Hanks previously submitted requests for a recount, asking again will start the process over. Candidates must submit a notarized request for a recount by Tuesday. After the request is processed, candidates will be notified how much the effort will cost.
Peters, who spoke virtually at the event Sunday, asked couples to donate $2,500 each to raise $250,000 for a recount.
“In this Biden economy, your pocketbook is not going to help you,” Peters said. “Your money is going to go away. You might as well invest it now.”
Last week, Peters was arrested and released on bond from Pitkin County Jail after contacting Mesa County Elections Director Brandi Bantz for a recount of the election. Peters is barred from contacting Bantz under her grand jury indictment for allegedly facilitating a security breach in the Mesa County election office.
Hanks said during the fundraising event that there is more happening in the recount effort than the fundraising. But, he added, he couldn’t reveal everything because of security reasons.
The other other Colorado Recount Coalition candidates and the offices they were running for include Summer Groubert, state House District 18; David Winney, El Paso County commissioner District 5; Todd Watkins, El Paso County sheriff; Lindsay Moore, El Paso County commissioner District 1; Lynda Zamora, Colorado Senate District 9; Peter Lupia, El Paso County clerk and recorder; and Rae Ann Weber, El Paso County coroner.