February 28, 2023 – The El Paso County Clerk and Recorder’s Office has contracted with Experian to provide an additional data management option for the nearly 460,000 voter files in the El Paso County voter registration database. Experian is a respected voter registration and maintenance service provider assisting to create process efficiencies, reduce the number of undeliverable ballots and improve the voter experience, by providing an additional mechanism for election officials to maintain accurate and up-to-date voter rolls.
The goal of this project is to receive enriched data for voters registered in El Paso County, when available. The voter’s first name, last name, and address will be processed through Experian’s Nationwide Skip Tracing Solution, which will then verify and append the most up-to-date address on the voter. If the information received from Experian does not match the voter’s file, the Clerk’s office will contact the voter to verify their information and update their voter registration record, if needed.
This program allows the Clerk’s office to verify and correct data provided by voters during registration, identify and obtain contact information, verify authenticity of the registered voter’s credentials, and take a cost-effective approach to updating records; ultimately reducing the cost of an election to the taxpayers of El Paso County.
“Our voter registration list is the gateway to participating in the voting process and maintaining accurate voter registration lists is essential to protecting election integrity,” said Clerk and Recorder Steve Schleiker. “I support an audit process to provide our citizens confidence that our voter registration list is as accurate as possible. While perfection is elusive, we must continue striving for validation and improvement.”
The Clerk’s office already audits the voter registration database by validating that third party data provided by the National Change of Address (NCOA) database, Social Security Administration, Colorado Department of Health, Colorado Department of Revenue, SAVE (federal Immigration information) and the Colorado Department of State, is accurate and delivered in a timely manner for counties to process, in accordance with Colorado law.
El Paso County is the first in the state to work with Experian on this voter registration maintenance project at a cost of approximately $18,000. This project is anticipated to be completed by mid-summer 2023, well in advance of the 2023 Coordinated Election.