Colorado official urged media not to report results Nov. 3

FPI / October 4, 2020

Colorado's Democrat Secretary of State Jena Griswold has walked back her message imploring the media not to report results or to make projections on Nov. 3, the night of the 2020 presidential election.

Griswold tweeted on Thursday: "This is no normal election. A record number of Americans will be voting by mail. Election 'night' will be dramatically different than ever before. We need an UNPRECEDENTED plan from the media for how they will cover an unprecedented election."

Griswold continued: "That is why I am calling on national media networks to pledge to #PressPause for democracy and: 1. Make NO projections on election night. 2. Announce NO election results on election night."

Some observers noted that what Griswold was doing was issuing an unprecedented demand to suppress vote tallies on election night.

Hours after Griswold sent the tweet, it was deleted and replaced with a new post that said her words were misinterpreted.

She later issued the following statement: "I would like to apologize for a tweet I put out earlier tonight. It was confusing, and the point I was trying to make was made inartfully. My intention was to draw attention to the fact that other states across the nation are drastically adopting new voting procedures, and it is critically important that these changes be taken into account in election night reporting. Unlike Colorado, some states may not be able to process ballots until Election Day or after. A free press is a key pillar of our democracy, and I have full confidence the media will handle this professionally and accurately."

In another new tweet, Griswold wrote instead that she's asking journalists not to call a winner in the presidential election until all ballots are counted.

In August, Griswold slammed President Donald Trump over his warning that massive voting by mail had the potential for voter fraud.

“The president has shown a degree of disrespect to this country that is just un-American,” she said. “There is something that we should all be able to agree on and that is well-functioning elections.”

Dominik Stecula, an assistant professor of political science at Colorado State University, pointed out that even if news organizations followed Griswold's initial advice and didn't report results, vote tallies would still be published by election officials, including Griswold.

"Even if the media go along with this proposal not post any projections, you know, the social media will be ripe with misinformation. There's absolutely nothing to secretary can do about that," Stecula said.

It was revealed recently that Griswold's office mailed postcards to non-citizens and dead people encouraging them to register to vote in order to cast ballots in the November election. Griswold mailed the cards to individuals who are ineligible to vote, according to CBS4.

“Sounds really nice except my mother has been dead four years and she hasn’t lived, voted, owned property, worked, or done anything other than visit Colorado since 1967,” Karen Anderson told the local news outlet.

Free Press International