Secretary Jena Griswold Reminds Voters to Use Trusted Sources; Raises Awareness of Election Disinformation

Denver, October 14, 2024 - Ballots for the 2024 General Election will be sent to voters by Friday, October 18. Secretary of State Jena Griswold is reminding voters to always use trusted sources and remain alert to election disinformation. 

"We must continue to combat election disinformation. Coloradans should always use trusted sources for election information, including GoVoteColorado.gov and their County Clerk’s Office," said Secretary Griswold. 

Coloradans should use trusted sources when searching for information on elections. Information from the Colorado Secretary of State’s Office is distributed via www.ColoradoSOS.gov or www.GoVoteColorado.gov. 

Use trusted sources

A reminder to Coloradans that the ".gov" URL is overseen by the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Agency (CISA), and "exists so that the online services of bona fide U.S.-based government organizations are easy to identify on the internet." With the .gov domain – which only verified government agencies may use – Coloradans can be confident that information is coming directly from the Secretary of State’s Office.

As the election nears, Colorado voters should be aware of disinformation related to elections such as scams perpetrated online, via email, robocall, and text message – including with artificially generated media such as "deepfakes". 

With this year’s passing of the Candidate Deepfake Disclosures Act, distributing media of a state candidate that uses artificial intelligence without disclosure may be a campaign finance violation.

As noted by the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) and CISA (PDF), "disinformation is deliberately created to mislead, harm, or manipulate a person, social group, organization, or country... Foreign actors use misinformation, disinformation, and malinformation campaigns to cause chaos, confusion, and division. These malign actors are seeking to interfere with and undermine our democratic institutions and national cohesiveness." 

Voters should: 

• Rely on state and local government election officials for information about registering to vote, voting, and election results. 
• Be aware that sensational content can be created or shared by foreign actors with the intent to incite anger, mobilize, and to promote amplification of false information. 
• Seek information from trustworthy and reputable media and social media sources, considering the author and their intent. 
• Critically evaluate the information you share and verify information with trusted sources such as state and local election officials and reputable news media. If the information is not from a credible source or if a second reliable source cannot be found, consider not sharing it as you may be inadvertently amplifying misinformation. 
• Be wary of phone calls, texts, or emails from unfamiliar callers and senders that make suspicious claims about the elections process or of social media posts that appear to spread inconsistent information about election-related problems or results.