400-plus Denver voters have cancelled their registrations since Trump election commission announcement

A much larger than usual number of people asked to withdraw their voter registrations in Denver County last week.
2 min. read
Secretary of State Wayne Williams closes elector voting at the Colorado Capitol. (Chloe Aiello/Denverite)

A much larger than usual number of people asked to withdraw their voter registrations in Denver County last week.

The increase might be linked to recent news that President Donald Trump's elections commission has requested data on every voter in every state. Withdrawing a registration

There was a "2,150% increase" in the number of voters withdrawing their registrations in the week of July 3, according to the Denver Elections Division, compared to the week before.

Just a handful of people cancel their registrations on a typical day, but the numbers began spiking on July 5, nearing 100 people per day. (News of the commission's request had broken on June 29.)

Withdrawing a registration "removes them from the voter roll data that will be sent by the state," confirmed elections spokesman Alton Dillard. However, privately run voter databases may still show information that was previously released.

In all, 405 people have made online requests to withdraw their registrations since the surge began on July 5. It has been enough to actually cancel out Denver's growth on at least one day, temporarily reducing the total number of registered voters.

Others have been requesting "confidential voter" status, which is reserved for people who fear harassment and other threats.

"I never expected to come to work and see such a sudden increase in voter registration withdrawals. I never expected to see more withdrawals in a day than new registrations," said elections director Amber McReynolds in a news release.

"The impact on voters is real. The impact on civic engagement is real. The impact on election offices is real. Colorado has the highest registration rate as a percentage of population and if this week’s trend continues that could quickly change."

Other voters may also be requesting confidentiality under a provision meant for people who believe they'll be subject to criminal harassment or bodily harm.

Colorado Secretary of State Wayne Williams has said that he is legally obligated to release certain information, such as names, addresses, political party and a record of which elections voters participated in.

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