As the November 8, 2022 General Election nears, Ark Valley Voice has been in contact with candidates running for Chaffee County office, asking them general questions to introduce themselves to the public, and providing the opportunity for them to answer in writing. Ark Valley Voice (AVV) sent the same five questions to the candidates running for the position of county clerk and recorder.
While Chaffee County Clerk and Recorder Lori Mitchell, a Democrat, may need no introduction to many residents, others who have needed to access or record county records may not realize they have interacted with a very busy records office. While the questions are more focused on new candidates running for an office they don’t hold, Mitchell, chose to answer them.
Below are Mitchell’s answers to our questions. It should be noted that these are the answers and opinions of the candidate and do not represent Ark Valley Voice. In fact, AVV does no candidate endorsements of any kind.
Q. Introduce yourself – who are you, how long have you lived in the county, and what is your background? What is the most important thing about you that the public should know?
Chaffee County Clerk and Recorder Lori Mitchell is running for reelection.Courtesy photo.
A. I’m sixth generation Chaffee County. I grew up here. My parents grew up here, they moved away and moved back here when I was eight-years-old. My ancestry actually goes back to the Mayflower, so we’ve been here a while.
Of course I am now a Certified Elections/Registration Administrator (CERA) through the Election Center, National Association of Election Officials. [Clerk Mitchell’s CERA designation is the country’s highest professional achievement for election officials.]
Q. Why are you running for Chaffee County Clerk and Recorder?
A. I’m running for reelection so I can continue to stand up for American democracy. My role is all about democracy. I keep building on the diversity of the job. I really love the diversity of this job helping my fellow citizens navigate their local government.
Q. What in your view, is the role of the county clerk and recorder in the administration of county and state records and processes and what do you want to accomplish should you be selected as the clerk and recorder for this county?
A. This job is a whole lot more than people think it is. We have the highest customer contact of any department in the county. We’re going to touch everybody’s lives at some point, whether it’s registering a vehicle, a boat, having a document recorded, getting a marriage license. People don’t realize the complex things that we need to know to work in this office. It doesn’t just happen overnight. I started working in the clerk’s office and and the then county clerk and recorder was a mentor to me.
We get almost 16,000 voters, and over 30,000 vehicles registered in the county. This summer we’ve been doing a serious amount of marriage licenses – double the normal number because Fremont County had a cyberattack, so everyone is coming up here and we’re processing for them. In fact, as I’ve been out in the community talking with folks, I’ve lost count of people saying oh yes, you just did our marriage in August.
The deluge of public records requests we’ve gotten since the 2020 election and the false claims of election fraud has been a concern. We get bombarded. We’re not the only county being deluged with increased public records requests for information on elections and processes. The impact is it’s almost like a denial of service; they want to bog you down so much that you can’t do the important work you need to do. The requests do seem coordinated; identical with one or two words changed.
The questions have been about poll watchers and insider threats. We want people to watch the system, we’re proud of the work we do. That’s an important part of the election process, but the observers and the watchers need to follow the rules, they can’t interrupt the process – they are “watchers” to verify the actions took place…
Q. What are your strongest qualifications as a candidate; what makes you the best candidate at this time for this role?
A. I’ve been Chaffee County Clerk for eight years. I was elected in 2014. But by then I’d been working in the office since 2011. I think I’m the best candidate, I sure hope I am. Every day I do the best job I can. I know what I would like to see in a government office and that’s what we offer: transparency, efficiency, accuracy, respect. We’re all looking to help our citizens navigate their interactions with the government. We want to be the best, — the most helpful. All my staff is empowered to find solutions for customers.
Q. What do you believe are the greatest challenges of stepping into this role and why do you believe they exist?
A. The biggest challenge is the diversity of the job (it’s not just elections). All the departments, each with their own processes. As we move toward this election, the clerks all across Colorado are bracing and preparing for an onslaught of election deniers signing up to be election judges and poll-watchers and candidates.
Ark Valley Voice Candidate Forum
Mark your calendars for October 19. AVV and its nonprofit parent Truth Has a Voice Foundation will host a Chaffee County Candidate Forum from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 19 in the Salida City Council Chambers in the Touber Building, located at 448 East First Street.
Editor’s Notes:
Mitchell was recently interviewed by The Denver Post regarding threats to the upcoming election based on earlier AVV news stories, and MSNBC cable television host Joy Reid interviewed Mitchell earlier this week on the same issue. In 2018 Clerk Mitchell was elected to serve as President of the Colorado County Clerks Association.
According to the Director of the Election Center Tim Mattice; “The CERA title is the highest designation available to elections and voter registration officials. Clerk Mitchell and her graduating class of 69 election professionals have truly demonstrated their commitment to a career-long process of improving the electoral process in Colorado. This is an outstanding accomplishment and Chaffee County is indeed fortunate to have Clerk Mitchell as one of the top designated election professionals in the country.”
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