Around 30,000 noncitizens living in Colorado were sent postcards last month that encouraged them to vote. Democratic Secretary of State Jena Griswold’s office blamed the mishap on an “error.” The story was first reported by Colorado Public Radio News.
On September 27, department employees compared a list of names of 102,000 people provided by the Electronic Registration Information Center to a database of Colorado residents issued driver’s licenses, Fox News reported.
That Department of Revenue driver’s license list includes names of Colorado residents who have been issued special licenses for people who are not U.S. citizens. The list did not include formatting information that would have allowed the department to filter out noncitizens before the mailers went out, Griswold’s office said.
The Colorado postcards, which were printed in English and Spanish, specify that residents must be U.S. citizens and at least 18 years old to register. The mailers instruct recipients how to register but are not a voter registration form, Fox News reported.
