Roughly 30,000 non-U.S. citizens who reside in the state of Colorado were sent postcards on how they could register to vote by the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office.
The office said it is currently attempting to ascertain how the error came about, as the Colorado Public Radio News first reported.
Residents with out-of-country driver’s licenses for Colorado received the postcards in the mail, which were printed in English and Spanish, and were sent on Sept. 27, according to a Fox News report.
The cards were part of the state’s standard initiative that takes place every two years where the state encourages Colorado residents who it believes are eligible to vote but are not yet registered, to become registered voters, according to CPR News.
The card included information in big letters on the front it read, “Make sure your voice is heard this November” and directed recipients to “Register to VOTE today at www.GoVoteColorado.gov.”
In a statement issued about the mistake, a spokesperson for the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office said, “The Department has become aware that approximately 30,000 EBU [Eligible But Unregistered] postcard mailers were incorrectly sent to ineligible Coloradans.”
“The office is undertaking an internal review of the incident and will take any corrective action that is warranted,” the state official went on.
Your tax dollars at work, folks:https://t.co/JvVHq32K15
— Kim Ransom (@KimRansom) October 7, 2022
Fox News reported that Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s (D) office said they were not aware that any noncitizens who received the erroneously dispatched postcards attempted to register to vote. However, if they try to register, they will not be allowed to.
Republican Party Chair for the state of Colorado, Kristi Burton Brown, called out the secretary of state for the mistake on Monday, claiming, “Jena Griswold continues to make easily avoidable errors just before ballots go out.”
According to the National Council on State Legislatures, Colorado is one of 18 20 states, in addition to the District of Columbia, that offer driver’s licenses to non-U.S. citizens.