Colorado elected officials are reacting to President Donald Trump’s decision to move the U.S. Space Command from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama.
“The president was very clear in his press conference yesterday announcing the move that the reason he’s moving this is because Colorado has mail-in voting and he doesn’t like mail-in voting, despite the fact that it works and it increases voter participation,” said U.S. Rep. Jason Crow (D-CO) during an appearance Wednesday on Colorado Morning News. “This is a politically motivated decision. We’re going to be far worse off as a country.”
On Tuesday, Trump said the fact that Colorado uses mail-in voting “played a big factor” in moving the headquarters away from Colorado Springs. Trump said Colorado has “a very corrupt voting system.”
Matt Crane, the executive director of the Colorado County Clerks Association (CCCA) pushed back against Trump’s claims. “It is deeply ironic that President Trump made a decision about the Space Force based on Colorado’s election model, yet moved it to Alabama, a state whose system provides neither the access nor the security that Colorado’s does,” said Crane in a news release. “In 2013, Colorado’s county clerks, at the time, the vast majority of them Republicans, designed and championed the nation’s first modern mail ballot system. Their work laid the foundation for what is now recognized as the most reliable, transparent, and accessible election model in the country. Our system was deliberately structured to serve Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike, ensuring that seniors, military personnel, and every eligible voter can cast a ballot safely and securely. Colorado’s model is proof that strong access and strong security can coexist. Voters can track their ballots online and know with certainty that their votes are counted. Independent audits after every election confirm the accuracy of our results, safeguards that states like Alabama simply do not have. In fact, the Washington Post has called Colorado the safest state in which to cast a ballot.”
In 2014, experts said Colorado’s new all mail-in ballot system helped Republican Cory Gardner win his U.S. Senate seat over incumbent Mark Udall, by making it easier for older voters to participate.
Mail-in ballots have long been a bugbear for conservatives who can’t win elections. Conspiracies about mail-in ballots were at the heart of the 2022 election conspiracy documentary “2,000 Mules,” which claimed progressive nonprofits used paid ballot “mules” to distribute enough false ballots in battleground states to swing the results of the 2020 election. In May, Salem Media, the company behind the film, issued an apology and said it would halt distribution of the film and remove both the film and book from its platforms. Salem Media is also facing a lawsuit from former Dominion executive Eric Coomer after former KNUS host Randy Corporon platformed Douglas County podcaster Joe Oltmann, whose claims about an alleged “antifa conference call” have been ruled “probably false” by a Denver District Court judge.
“The results speak for themselves,” said Hayle Johnson, CCCA President and Jackson County Clerk and Recorder in a news release. “In the 2024 Presidential Election, Colorado achieved 73.1% turnout of eligible voters compared to just 58.8% in Alabama. Colorado leads the nation because our clerks take their responsibility to democracy seriously. They are neighbors and community leaders who work tirelessly to safeguard every ballot and every voter’s voice.”
While Trump specifically cited Colorado’s use of mail-in ballots, some “election integrity” activists have drawn connections between the Space Command decision and the imprisonment of former Mesa County Clerk Tina Peters, who was sentenced to nine years in prison for her role in a 2021 security breach in the Mesa County Clerk’s office.
“12 days ago, [Trump] promised ‘harsh measures’ if [Peters] wasn’t freed,” wrote Ashe Epp, a blogger and podcaster and former member of U.S. Election Integrity Plan (originally U.S. Election Integrity Project), an election conspiracy group founded soon after the 2020 election by Trump supporters who refused to believe the results, on social media. “Today he gut-punched CO — ~3100 jobs & 1bn in $$$ impact — & he cited mail ballot fraud.”
U.S. Rep. Jeff Crank (R-CO) tried to downplay the impact of the Space Command move during an appearance Wednesday on the Richard Randall Show. “We’re very disappointed for the decision yesterday, but I’d also tell folks they that’s not the end of the ballgame,” he said. “We’re still in the middle of the ballgame, right? Just because the decision was made, it’s not moved anywhere. There’s still plenty of fight left in us, whether it is making sure that we keep Space Command in Colorado Springs, whether we fight to get new and great missions into El Paso County and Colorado Springs, and we’re doing both … the future is bright. I think the space business in Colorado Springs is gonna grow. There’s gonna be more space missions and and business in Colorado Springs five years from now than there is today. It’s a growing business.”
Colorado Governor Jared Polis (D) defended Colorado’s voting system and Peters’ sentence in a recent interview with 9 News. “Justice is not for sale,” he said. “Obviously, she was convicted by a jury. That has nothing to do with, apparently, the president’s dislike for mail-in ballots, which Colorado has, and one of the great things about mail-in ballots is we actually keep the paper ballots. They can be recounted if you don’t believe in the result, and often they are. If it’s close, there’s usually very little variance, and there’s always a few that are marked in a way where it can be challenged if it’s very close.”
