This Must Stop!

For the past eight years, Joan Lopez has run the Arapahoe County Clerk office, but do we see the competence and integrity needed to serve the citizens of one of the biggest counties in Colorado?

Brazen Alteration

More than four years after Joan Lopez certified the election results from 2020 were accurate, an election she herself was responsible to administer, she changed the 2020 Cast Vote Record (CVR). The CVR is the official record of the outcomes of an election.

In late 2024, according to the county, Yale assistant professor Shiro Kuriwaki found a redaction problem in Arapahoe County's 2020 election. (Redaction affects precincts so small it might be possible to tell from the record who voted which way.) In early 2025, Lopez authorized the public version of the original CVR to be replaced with a new document, claiming this is not a change to election records because the non-public original CVR was unchanged. However, since the public is not allowed to see the original CVR, the public only has Lopez's word for it.

The change was discovered by mathematician Ed Solomon, who was using the Arapahoe CVR as evidence in a Nevada case showing mathematical patterns (Biden and Trump voters voting in sync on a tax issue) that are statistically impossible in an election. The mathematical patterns were not in the new CVR.

According to Dr. Walter Daugherity, a Harvard-trained expert in computer science and election auditing, more than 99% of the CVR was changed. The portion of the electorate that Kuriwaki described as being affected was only 5% of residents of Arapahoe County.

Dr. Daugherity explained this CVR also indicated the relationship between Biden and Trump voters and how those same people voted for or against Amendment B. (For reference, there was a provision in our tax code called the Gallagher Amendment. The Gallagher Amendment put a cap on property taxes. People who voted for Amendment B repealed that cap, significantly raising taxes; people who voted against Amendment B wanted to keep that cap in place, not allowing taxes to be raised.) What we learn from the data, is that Trump and Biden voters voted exactly the same rate on this amendment. Statistically this is the same as a person flipping a coin and getting "heads" 3,500 times in a row.

For those concerned about affordability, please note the passage of Amendment B made it much more expensive to live in Colorado. The citizens of this great state deserve accurate voting records to prove we voted for our taxes to be raised.

Why didn't Lopez address the mathematician's observation but did address the observation of an assistant professor? Why change almost all of the CVR for an issue that affects a tiny part? Why make the change just before the CVR was presented as evidence in court? Why did the mathematical patterns, which were unrelated to redaction, disappear?

If you would like more information concerning this troubling revelation, you can watch this video and/or read Mr. Daugherty's press release:

Press release from Daugherity:

https://grassrootsconnect.us/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/Dougherty-Arapahoe-CVR-Report.pdf

A Close Association with Controversy: Joan Lopez and Jena Griswold

Even after Colorado's Secretary of State Jena Griswold's office posted the passwords to over 600 voting machines, Joan Lopez still uses a photo of herself and Griswold to promote her candidacy – raising serious questions about judgement, accountability, and the company she chooses to keep.

Just before the primary election in June of 2024, a spreadsheet with a hidden tab was posted on the SOS website. This contained the bios passwords for these machines, potentially compromising the voting systems in 63 of Colorado's 64 counties right in the middle of an election cycle. A private individual discovered this troubling breach and made his findings public in late October, after voting had already started in the general election. The passwords were removed on October 24th after the existence of the hidden tab became known publicly.

Lopez's continuance of publicly aligning herself with Griswold after such a serious lapse reflects a disturbing lack of discernment and responsibility.

Avoidance of Accountability: Joan Lopez Fails to Appear Before the Ethics Violation Commission

In December of 2019, Joan Lopez refused to show up to an Arapahoe County Ethics Commission violation hearing. She informed the committee quite late in the evening, just the night before, that she would not be able to attend the meeting planned for the following morning. In the end, Lopez corrected the error and reimbursed the county for the personal vacation expenses for which she used county money.

According to a December 13, 2019 report from 9News: