Rep. Dave Williams, left, and Ron Hanks, failed U.S. Senate candidate, made election fraud allegations in July 2021 at a townhall meeting. Both lost their primary elections on June 28. Williams sought to unseat Rep. Doug Lamborn.

Rep. Dave Williams, left, and Ron Hanks, failed U.S. Senate candidate, made election fraud allegations in July 2021 at a townhall meeting. Both lost their primary elections on June 28. Williams sought to unseat Rep. Doug Lamborn.

This blog has been updated with the cost of a statewide recall.

Failed Secretary of State candidate Tina Peters, under indictment for multiple charges connected to election breaches, and Ron Hanks, who lost his primary bid for U.S. Senate, have asked Secretary of State Jena Griswold for a primary election recount.

But Peters and Hanks will have to pay for the recount — an estimate for which was to be made available within a few days — because the vote difference wasn't narrow enough to trigger an automatic recount funded by state taxpayers. An automatic recount is ordered when a margin of victory in an election is less than or equal to 0.5 percent of the winner's vote total.

However, if the recount results change the outcome of the election, the cost of the recount — which Peters and Hanks will have to pay upfront — will be refunded to them.

That recount would cost Peters and Hanks $236,279.37 each.

Peters, who lost the June 28 Republican primary contest to Pam Anderson, faces 10 charges in connection with security breaches of the 2020 election held in Mesa County where she used to serve as clerk and recorder, according to The Colorado Sun.

In her letter to Griswold, dated July 14, Peters said, "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 candidates."

Peters notes that she captured the majority of delegate votes at the GOP state assembly and polled as the leading GOP candidate for the office prior to the election.

In support of her claim, she said the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) "announced nine security vulnerabilities in Dominion Voting Systems, Inc. ... machines ... that could be used to steal or alter votes...."

CSIA's notice, found here, said this:

"This advisory identifies vulnerabilities affecting versions of the Dominion Voting Systems Democracy Suite ImageCast X, which is an in-person voting system used to allow voters to mark their ballot. The ImageCast X can be configured to allow a voter to produce a paper record or to record votes electronically. While these vulnerabilities present risks that should be mitigated as soon as possible, CISA has no evidence that these vulnerabilities have been exploited in any elections." (Emphasis added.)

In his letter, Hanks noted he was only candidate at the GOP state assembly to qualify for the primary ballot. Businessman Joe O'Dea petitioned onto the ballot.

"Further, direct polling of nearly 68,000 Colorado voters concluding within 72 hours of the June 28, 2022 primary election indicated this campaign was up by 8% over my petition-on opponent," he wrote.

He repeats Peters' claims regarding CISA's warning.

A Colorado Secretary of State's spokesperson says letters from Peters and Hanks were received today, July 14.

"[T]he Office must provide the cost for a recount within one day of receiving the request. The Office makes the determination based off of quotes supplied by all 64 counties. We will release that information after the Office has made the determination and provided it to the two parties who requested the recount," the spokesperson said.

Here's the relevant section of state law regarding who pays for a recount, as cited by the spokesperson:

"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."

Peters had about $33,000 in her campaign fund prior to the primary election. The next reporting date is in August. Hanks has about $20,500 remaining, according to the Federal Election Commission.

El Paso County Clerk and Recorder election official Angela Leath estimated the county's cost of a recount at $10,000. So far, no local candidates have asked for a recount, she tells the Indy via email.

Meantime, the Colorado Times Recorder reports: "As the U.S. House Select Committee showed the nation that the Trump administration worked closely with extremist groups like the Oathkeepers to overturn the 2020 election, Mesa County, Colorado, Clerk Tina Peters yesterday told a conference of extremist sheriffs that Conan Hayes, the man whom she permitted to copy her county’s election server files, had dinner with her and Congresswoman Lauren Boebert (R-CO) the next day."

Pam Zubeck is a graduate from Emporia State University. She worked at the Tulsa Tribune before coming to Colorado Springs, where she spent 16 years at the Gazette and in 2009 joined Colorado Publishing House.

Email notifications are only sent once a day, and only if there are new matching items.