COLORADO SPRINGS — The head elections official of El Paso County in March quit his role in the Colorado County Clerks Association (CCCA), accusing the group’s president and executive director of not allowing him to attend leadership meetings because “he was not trustworthy enough to Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold.”
“Since my election as your CCCA Vice President, I have not been permitted to participate in executive leadership meetings with the Secretary of State’s Office,” wrote El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Steve Schleiker in his resignation letter to association members and the executive board. “I was informed by both Matt and Carly that this was due to a lack of trust from the Secretary of State’s Office regarding my participation. I was told that relationships are important and that efforts would be made to include me once others felt more comfortable.”
Schleiker was referring to Weld County Clerk and Recorder Carly Koppes and CCCA Executive Director Matt Crane. Koppes is the current president of the CCCA.
In his resignation letter, Schleiker not only stepped down as vice president of the association, but removed El Paso County from membership in the group, noting that Griswold is not a member of the CCCA, and it was troubling to him that Koppes and Crane would allow her to dictate who could and could not attend the meetings.
“I find it deeply concerning that participation in leadership meetings appears to be influenced or dictated by individuals or entities outside of the CCCA,” he said. “The CCCA is an independent organization, governed by the rules and bylaws established by (us) its membership. The Secretary of State is not a member of this Association, and it is troubling to me that an external office would have de facto authority over which of our elected officers may engage in discussions on behalf of the organization.”
Outspoken on elections
Schleiker has been outspoken about his views on election integrity, including Dominion voting machines, among other things.
Schleiker has taken issue with the cost of mail in balloting, calling it wasteful because of the number of people who do not use the ballots mailed to them. In an interview with an independent YouTuber, he pointed to 30,000 voters in his own county alone who instead went to polling centers and voted a new ballot.
He has publicly disagreed with the idea that Colorado is the “gold standard” for elections, as is claimed by Griswold, as well as Crane, who has said Colorado has the “best election process in the nation.”
“You’ll never hear me say that,” he said in the interview.
In that same interview, he talks about Dominion voting machines and says Dominion lied to the country that the machines cannot be connected to the Internet. He claims that foreign intervention is possible in our elections through these machines.
“It is possible when you look at the amount of fraud, the amount of cyber security, the amount of individuals sitting there saying, ‘hey I’m going to try this,’” he said.
Koppes gives her side
When contacted by Complete Colorado, Koppes said Schleiker’s interpretation of the events are not accurate, saying the meetings Schleiker is referring to historically are held between the president of the organization, the executive director and various stakeholder groups to discuss upcoming events, legislation and other things pertinent to the organization.
Koppes has the authority to expand those at the meetings to also include the president-elect and the vice president. Because this is her last year, Koppes says she was considering doing that so those two roles would be more informed as they took over the organization into the next year. However, some of the stakeholder groups’ members came to Koppes concerned about Schleiker’s views. According to Koppes, she had an in-person meeting with Schleiker to let him know that she was going to hold the first meeting with just Crane to figure out a way that they could move forward with Schleiker included.
Schleiker resigned before that could happen.
Koppes said she has no idea why Schleiker is blaming Griswold for this, as Griswold is not a member of the CCCA, is not involved in these meetings, and has nothing to do with the current situation. The meetings also are not with Griswold.
To date, no meetings have been held. And a new vice president has been appointed, according to the group’s bylaws, to replace Schleiker.
