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Elbert County commissioners vote to support HB26‑1080 on mail‑ballot signature verification
Summary
After a legislative briefing, the board unanimously moved to a support position on HB26‑1080 (county mail‑ballot signature verification); Clerk Rhonda Brun described current bipartisan checks and said county staff will testify at the Feb. 23 hearing.
The Elbert County Board of County Commissioners voted unanimously on Feb. 11 to move the county to a support position on HB26‑1080, a proposal that would increase county‑level signature verification for mail ballots.
The board’s CCI representative gave a summary of several bills being tracked by Colorado Counties Incorporated. When the mail‑ballot signature verification proposal was discussed, Rhonda Brun, Elbert County clerk and recorder, described the county’s current process and urged the board to support broader bipartisan review.
"Everything we do in elections with our election judges processing our mail ballots is done in a bipartisan team," Brun said. "The only ID check that there is on mail ballots we are required to do with only one judge... It's the only ID check that we have for our mail ballots." She added that rejected signatures are reviewed later by a bipartisan team and that mail ballots comprise roughly "95 to 99%" of ballots in many elections.
After discussion, a commissioner moved and the board voted—each commissioner responding "I"—to adopt a supportive position and to have county staff and elected officials testify at the bill’s committee hearing. The clerk and a commissioner said they plan to testify at a Feb. 23 hearing.
The legislative briefing also reviewed CCI positions on a number of bills of local interest, including opposition to proposals that would limit vendor pricing at captive venues, a renewed effort to allow high‑density housing on qualifying properties that could preempt local land‑use authority, and incentives for data centers. The board did not take immediate formal positions on all items discussed but asked staff and elected officials to flag bills of local significance for CCI advocacy.
Votes at a glance: • Motion to support HB26‑1080 (county mail‑ballot signature verification): passed unanimously. • Other procedural approvals and routine items were approved earlier in the meeting.
The clerk said the county will be represented at the upcoming hearing and that commissioners are expected to serve as witnesses defending local decisions if needed.
