DENVER — Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold is no stranger to threats online.
She says since the election in 2020, threats have been a constant. Fueled by lies alleging stolen elections and widespread voter fraud, the attacks against Griswold and her staff have not only sustained, she says they have increased.
"Department of Homeland Security has alerted us about physical threats. The FBI has alerted us," Griswold said.
She said there is still no office dedicated to vetting the authenticity of the threats.
"It's falling on Secretary of States offices to comb through literally thousands of threats," Griswold said.
The Colorado Secretary of State's Office shared some of those threats with Denver7. The comments were posted to Griswold's personal and public social media accounts and sent in direct messages. The messages make direct and gruesome threats against her life.
"I KNOW WHERE YOU SLEEP, I SEE YOU SLEEPING. BE AFRAID, BE VERY AFRAID. I hope you die," one message said.
"Everyone knows... there are people looking for you," another said.
Thousands more posts and threats, many with unrepeatable vulgarity, have filled her online accounts over the past year. She says the threats come as she works to increase access to voting and election security in Colorado.
"We've done a lot since I've been elected, including increasing drop boxes by 55% and establishing statewide ballot tracks partnering with the tribes in Colorado," Griswold said. "What we're seeing is extreme elected officials use lies about the 2020 election to try to tilt future elections in their favor, and it's very sad because in 2020, we saw record turnout across the nation among both Democrats and Republicans."
The Secretary of State Office says they forward all threats to the Colorado State Patrol for vetting. Police have not made any arrests at this point. As political rhetoric across the nation remains at a fever pitch, Griswold believes so will the threats.
"I believe this is, in a large part, because the lies about the 2020 election are actually growing stronger," she said. "We continue to receive threats. But with that said, we won't be deterred."