“Tiffany Lee, the county clerk and top elections official in southwestern Colorado’s La Plata County, wasn’t sold at first on the state’s new law requiring every jail to create an in-person polling place for incarcerated voters. Lee, who was elected as a Republican but is now unaffiliated, said she and the local sheriff didn’t appreciate a new mandate and felt it was too one-size-fits-all to work for a diverse state. But Lee’s apprehension melted away on Oct. 22, when she and the sheriff opened their first in-person voting session at the Durango jail. Lee recounted how a young incarcerated woman whom she helped cast her ballot profusely thanked her, and told Lee that the experience of voting made her feel like a part of her community. “I had tears in my eyes,” said Lee. “I thought to myself: This is exactly where I need to be today. It was just an awesome feeling.”
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“I think people would be surprised to know that those of us who are incarcerated really do actually pay attention to what’s going on out there,” said Jesus Rodriguez, who voted from Jefferson County’s jail in November, in a testimonial the county clerk’s office shared with Bolts. Rodriguez, who was 29 on Election Day last year, had never voted before because, he said, “I never thought it would mean much. Even though it might not sound like much. It would be one of my top five experiences, being able to vote.”