Please explain in detail the Colorado Statutory duties of the elected official office which you would take an oath to uphold.

A person taking the oath of office has a choice of which wording. Both are basically the same except for adding or subtracting everliving God. Having God in the oath is a personal choice.

CO Rev Stat § 24-12-101 (2018)

(1) When a person is required to take an oath or affirmation before the person enters upon the discharge of a public office or position, the form of the oath or affirmation is as follows:

I [name], do [select swear, affirm, or swear by the everliving God] that I will support the constitution of the United States, the constitution of the state of Colorado, and the laws of the state of Colorado, and will faithfully perform the duties of the office of [name of office or position] upon which I am about to enter to the best of my ability.

I [name], do [select swear, affirm, or swear by the everliving God] that I will support the constitution of the United States, the constitution of the state of Colorado, and the laws of the state of Colorado, and will faithfully perform the duties of the office of [name of office or position] upon which I am about to enter to the best of my ability. If choosing to swear an oath, the person swearing shall do so with an uplifted hand.

The question should be why do elected official who take the oath don’t understand the oath? Above are the two choices for an oath. I believe it comes from the part of the phrase I will support the constitution of the United States, the constitution of the state of Colorado, and the laws of the state of Colorado. The word support becomes the conflict. Support is not clearly defined by the Colorado Secretary of State which leaves the official to determine their own definition. Colorado Statutory duties of the elected official office are in writing under the Colorado Revised Statues. The Clerk and Recorder has additional rules which must be followed provided in writing by the Secretary of State.

The duties of the elected official are defined in the Colorado Revised Statues. An elected official doesn’t have to make up their own agenda. You just need to be able to read and follow statue. As for the Clerk and Recorder the duties of the Clerk are presented in different chapters of the Colorado Revised statutes. You must be able and cross reference information to faithfully perform the duties of the office. The most important issues are, I can follow the constitution of the United States, the constitution of the state of Colorado, and the laws od the state of Colorado.

As for me I happily take the oath of office. Just as I did when I took the oath to become the Chief Deputy.

While it is not immediately obvious how your views on the last national election should have anything to do with the sort of local issues you will be involved with, I think it would be good to know whether you think, as some insist, that Joe Biden was fraudulently declared president. For my own part, it has surprised me to find this opinion expressed by people I never expected to hear it from. Would you all be willing to state clearly your own take on the matter?

The national elections do affect us locally. It is critical that all Americans believe in our election process. I do not know what the true elections results really are. I do not know what elections across the country may have been compromised. But yes, Biden is the president. Remember in 2016 the other side said Trump stole the election. What is critical is that in every jurisdiction, we have election integrity, election security, and election transparency. Without that, how will voters believe in our elections. Voters have the right to question an election. The county commissioners control the budget for election. Election can be more secure in Gilpin County. There are Great voting system and security system, it takes money. I believe it is time to spend the money. I was audited by many individuals from the Democratic party which were 3rd party. Happily, I provided the information in question. Never having 3rd party groups or individual become a problem other than my time. The clerk’s answer should be here is all the documentation to prove it. Getting an answer that everything is fine, and you need to believe what I said, is not a good answer.

1-7-802. Preservation of election records. The designated election official shall be responsible for the preservation of any election records for a period of at least twenty-five months after the election or until time has expired for which the record would be needed in any contest proceedings, whichever is later. Unused ballots may be destroyed after the time for a challenge to the election has passed. If a federal candidate was on the ballot, the voted ballots and any other required election materials shall be kept for at least twenty-five months after the election.

Who was the legitimate winner of the 2020 presidential election?

That is an excellent question. Let me know when you find out that answer. We need the answer for 2016 also.

Do you believe that all American citizens (over the age of 18) have an equal right to vote and have their voices heard? If so, do you believe that did not happen in the 2020 election or are you afraid it might not be the case in the 2022 election? If elected, what would you do to try to ensure that all adult American citizens’ votes are counted and/or American voices heard?

Yes, I do believe that all American Citizens over 18 should have an equal right to vote and that voice to be heard. Until the 2020 election is sorted out which may take years, if ever, I cannot say whether the voters’ voices were heard. Now to put it perspective locally with the primary election, there were 6 ballots counted that should not have been counted (3 unaffiliated people voted and returned both ballots and all 6 should have been rejected but were counted) and at least 2 possible cases of voter fraud (one voter has a physical address of the Black Hawk Post Office and one with at physical address of Gregory Street in the City of Black Hawk between the parking garage and the Bobtail mine which was torn down 20 years ago and she now lives in Canada), so 8 votes were counted that should not have been. That cancels out 8 legitimate voters’ votes. Now when you look back at the Central City Council special election in January, that race was won by 2 votes. So, a small mistake could change the outcome of a race here. It all goes back to election integrity, security, and transparency.

Clerk & Recorder

The position of County Clerk and Recorder necessitates the overseeing of elections and the voting process within Gilpin County. Do you believe that the election process is fair, safe and secure in Gilpin County as well as throughout the country, and if not, what measures would you take to insure elections be so.

First, lets start off with fair. The clerk is running for reelection and running the election. Under state statutes, that is legal because we are small county. Ethically, that is not right. With the limited staff in the office and with most of them being new, she cannot distance herself from the election. First let me say that I think she is a good person, and I am not making any allegations. But there is no way you can have a level of transparency high enough to make this ok. When I was chief deputy in 2018 running for the office, I was not allowed to touch the election. Clerk Stewart was the Designated Election Official and ran the election. The commissioners had major problems with me being anywhere near the election. One commissioner even had a problem with me going from my office to the bathroom during early voting and election day. It was that bad. To give you an example, what prevents the clerk from look at the race tallies each day then going home and making phone calls to get more votes if needed? The Secretary of State’s Election Division should have been brought in to run the election. I do think the elections are as safe as they can be for our environment. I think the biggest concern is issues with the building itself. As for secure, again, the building is a problem. One of the good things about being a small county, for the most part, you are not a target. However, there is a lot of work that can be done to improve the security in our environment. The budget for election needs to be increased and the best voting system and security system needs to be purchased.

Do you believe that the 2020 elections were fairly run locally and nationally? If you don’t believe they were fairly run then please explain your objections.

Locally, I have my questions with the limited data that I analyzed but am not making accusations, so I accepted the election results. Nationally, it is up to each jurisdiction to determine that. I cannot speak for them.

What are your views on the actions of Mesa County Clerk and Recorder Tina Peters and her attempts to prove that there was significant fraud in the Dominion voting systems that are also used by Gilpin County?

That is between Tina Peters, the Secretary of State and Mesa County. I will let the courts decide it and reserve my opinion until that happens. The county trusts the Secretary of State to provide a copy of the software each election and install it on the county machines in a secure manner. Now outside intentional fraud with the software, you could have bugs in the software or other system problems. You must have your checks and balances in place to detect this. When I ran the elections, we would at least hand count some of the batches of ballots that were scanned and compare it to the machine totals. In the smaller elections we would also hand count all the ballots just to make sure. With election fraud, voter fraud, and people working the election making mistakes, the outcome is the same, you do not have an accurate election. Every day, you must balance the number of people that voted and were given credit in the state voter system, the number of envelopes and affidavits that you have, the total number of physical ballots, and the machine total. No voter system is perfect, some are a better fit than others. The state went to a “one size fits all” approach several years ago. They have started backing away from that. It is important to have a robust Logic and Accuracy test (LAT) at the start of the election cycle to ensure that the systems are working properly. The voting election system and equipment are owned by each county so each county determines how much will be spent on the election.

Do you know of any evidence of deliberate fraud with the Gilpin County voting systems?

Not that has been made public. It is the clerk’s job to prove election integrity and provide the transparency to let the public know that there was a problem. The public does not have the access needed to make that determination.

How can the appointment scheduling system for the Motor Vehicle Department be improved?

That is easy, do away with it. Anyone needing special accommodations just need to call the office with the request. Only a few people need this so the rest of the county should not have to suffer. Things such as health concerns, large transactions for DMV that will take extra time, complex transactions, etc., a simple phone call or email and those requests can be handled. Normal transactions, just walk right in. You can stay with electronic if this is your preference.

Did the 2020 election outcome represent the will of the people? If not, why not?

Again, that is a very good question. Let me know when you find out. Now, the next question, did the 2016 election represent the will of the people? It is critical that the clerk ensure a fair, secure, and transparent election. Nationally, people always question the election and say it was not fair. It is up to the local jurisdictions to make sure their voters trust their elections.

What is the most important thing about being a clerk and recorder?

Listening, problem solving, empathy. Telling the truth. The office of clerk is one of service.

Do you believe the 2020 elections were fair?

It is interesting to see how many people submitted a question on the 2020 election. Depending on who you wanted as president, determines what answer you want to see. In this country, we have an election process for president where the US Congress certifies the results of the electoral college. When that happens, the next president is named. It does not matter whether you like the results or not, that is how the system works. With almost all presidential elections going back at least several decades, some members of congress object to those results. That is normal. With many elections across the country, voters question the results of the elections. I cannot speak as to whether an election in another state was valid and fair or not. I simply do not have the information to make that determination. That is between the Election Official running the election, the person/people complaining and the courts. My only hope is that those complaining are given proper due process of their complaint. Therefore, it is critical that all jurisdictions have elections that are fair. Election integrity, election security, and election transparency is important. Every voter has the right to question an election when they see something that does not look right. It is the responsibility of the Election Official to show that there is not a problem or show where the error was identified and corrected. An answer of “trust me, everything is fine” is not a valid answer when someone sees something that does not look right.

How do you promote a good working relationship in the office?

Good working relationship starts with the top-down approach. What makes and excellent working relationship is a Clerk who knows all different parts of the job inside and out. She can listen, train, problem solve and do the job being done by the employee. Giving breaks to staff. Talking with staff for needs that have not been addressed. Asking a sick employee if they need anything and completing the need. Creating a family environment where everyone is helping each other.

What are your top 3 priorities for 2023?

1. Work as partner with the local title companies and metro title companies for record searches. Property searches can be accessed back to 1990. However, most property searches in Gilpin County go back to earlier times 1800’s.

2. No appointments for Motor Vehicle, accommodation will be made for difficult transaction, just call. If you like to do transaction electronical, or by mail you still can. Work with State DMV on fees so everyone has current tags and plates.

3. Election have become so contested.

Time has come upgrade the election system and security system.

Welcome back to the clerk’s office, see the friends you haven’t seen in years. The citizens are paying salaries and the building expenses. Come in we are friendly.

How will you assure every vote is counted in Gilpin County?

There are many components to this. First you start off with voter education. Voters need to be registered to vote with the proper address. Getting voters to sign up for ballot tracking is a big one. The post office is a problem in the process from not getting the ballot delivered to the voter to not getting it returned to the clerk if they use the mail. Making sure voters know where the ballot drop boxes are so the post office can be eliminated on the return trip of the ballot. We need to get additional ballot drop boxes out into the county. With the cost of gas, we want to make it cheaper to vote in addition to making easier. So, the first step is to make sure the ballot gets to the voter and then returned to the clerk’s office in time. Once it gets to the clerk’s office, it needs to be processed properly. You need the proper checks and balances in place to make sure no ballot is overlooked, and no ballot is counted more than once.

Vote November 8, 2022, for Gail Crawford: Gilpin County Clerk and Recorder