Secretary of State Jena Griswold Announces Additional $1.5 Million for Election Judges Hero’s Pay, Tribal Grants, Sunday Voting

Denver, May 29, 2024 - Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold announced today an additional $1.5 million in funding available for election judges’ pay, grants for Colorado’s federally-recognized Tribes, and Sunday voting.

“Running elections has become harder since 2020. I’m proud of Colorado’s election judges, who work in bipartisan pairs to administer our gold standard elections. To recognize their work for the people of Colorado, I am announcing Hero’s Pay for the Primary and General Elections,” said Secretary Griswold. “To continue our great work with the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Indian Tribes, there will also be additional resources for the Tribes this election season, as well as funding for counties to cover the costs of Sunday voting.”

The Hero’s Pay will be available for election judges for the statewide primary and general election. The funding will allow counties to increase pay by up to $3 per hour. Each county clerk will be able to opt their county into this increased funding.

The funding will also cover the costs to open voting centers on the Sunday before election day. Voting centers are not required to be open on Sundays under state law.

A grant of up to $20,000 is also available to both the Ute Mountain Ute and Southern Ute Tribes for qualified programs to increase access to voting on Tribal lands.

The $1.5 million in new grants comes on top of the $3.5 million made available to counties in February to bolster the security and accessibility of 2024’s elections. Eligible expenses in that grant program included:

• Adding or upgrading locks or key card access to areas where election activities occur;
• Upgrading 24-hour drop box surveillance footage, including with the purchase of additional security cameras;
• Hiring new or additional security personnel at voting locations;
• County network infrastructure improvements;
• Domain upgrades to .gov;
• Installation of ramps and automatic doors at voting locations;
• Parking lot or curb accessibility improvements at voting locations;
• Costs associated with improved language assistance at VSPCs for voters with limited English proficiency;
• Adding handicap parking to polling places.

The new grant program will reimburse counties for up to 100% of eligible expenses. It is made possible by federal Help America Vote Act (HAVA) funds.