The number of registered Colorado voters was the highest it has ever been this past year under Williams\u2019 watch, in part because of measures he said make it easier for residents to register, such as automatic voter registration renewal for people receiving or renewing a driver\u2019s license.<\/p>\n
He hopes these facts will propel him past his Democratic challenger, Jena Griswold, in this year\u2019s Secretary of State contest.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a record of four years of what I\u2019ve done, and the best way to tell what someone is going to do in the future is by looking at what they\u2019ve done in the past,\u201d said Williams, who visited Durango on Tuesday.<\/p>\n For Williams, who lives in Colorado Springs, that record includes meeting with county clerks in every county of Colorado at least once since he has been in office \u2013 building a bridge between state and local voting entities that had not previously existed. He said that work gained support from Republican, Democratic and nonpartisan clerks around the state.<\/p>\n He has also secured new voting machines for the entire state and instituted a mail-in voting system that has been adopted by most Colorado counties. Old information systems have been replaced with newer technology, he said, a proactive measure he hopes will help the office better serve those who need it.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve actually done what I\u2019ve promised,\u201d he said. \u201cWe\u2019ve formed partnerships, we\u2019ve gotten bipartisan legislation through. And that is a record that is frankly unusual in this day and age.\u201d<\/p>\n Williams faced blowback from some Colorado voters last year for his decision to turn over public voter record information to a now-dissolved Trump administration commission charged with investigating alleged voter fraud in the 2016 elections. More than 3,000 Colorado voters withdrew their voter registrations in the wake of the controversial commission.<\/p>\n Williams, in support of his decision<\/a>, said he was following the law in releasing information that is available to anyone who wants it, although he publicly disagreed with the purpose of the inquiry \u2013 to legitimize Trump\u2019s assertion that millions defrauded the election system.<\/p>\n