ProgressNow Colorado has been fined more than $16,000 for failing to include required disclaimers in a so-called pro-life “voter guide” on gubernatorial candidates Jared Polis and Greg Lopez.
The fake voter guide was intentionally meant to deceive Republicans prior to the GOP primary race.
The complaints filed in June by the Maven Law Group included three other flyers that failed to property disclose its sources. The complaints were consolidated by the Secretary of State’s office, which levied the fine on ProgressNow Colorado, reports Colorado Politics.
It was the third complaint over ProgressNow’s voter guides in the last 18 months and the second that the progressive organization has settled with the Elections Division. The first complaint, in 2021, which the Elections Division filed, resulted in a $3,000 fine.
ProgressNow Colorado Executive Director Sara Loflin told Colorado Politics they deemed the judgement and fine acceptable, except they really didn’t mean it. They just got caught.
“Our voter guide was disclosed through the appropriate electioneering communication guidelines and the entity producing the mail was visibly disclaimed on every piece,” she said. “We accept the judgment from the Secretary of State on the full disclaimer and reiterate that the origin of the voter guide was publicly available.”
ProgressNow Colorado got off easy, as the 10% fine was only based on the first flyer that cost $160,000, rather than the full cost of $450,000 for all the flyers.
From Joe Jackson, executive director of the Colorado Republican Party:
“ProgressNow settled for a 3.5% fine when most groups who do this get a 10% fine, indicating more bias and partisan politics on Secretary Jena Griswold’s part. I’m glad to see that these hypocritical and poorly run dark money Democrat groups are starting to be held responsible for their false advertisements sent out during the Colorado primaries. It’s beyond parody that Democrats chose to spend millions of dollars to try and elect the same individuals they were also claiming were threats to Democracy.”
The folks over @ProgressNowCO are doing a heckuva job this cycle!
“It was the third complaint over ProgressNow’s voter guides in the last 18 months and the second that the progressive organization has settled with the Elections Division.” #copolitics https://t.co/gVBXE1SKSV
— Joe Jackson 🇺🇸 (@Joe_Jacksonn) October 11, 2022