Election Audit Integrity and Public Pension Risks in Colorado

On Monday, August 1, 2022, Kim Monson examines threats to Colorado’s election integrity and financial stability. Task Force Freedom founder Kane details how schools indoctrinate children, gubernatorial candidate Greg Lopez exposes flawed election audit procedures, and Independence Institute fellow Joshua Sharf warns of inflation’s uncertain effects on public pensions.

Fighting Indoctrination in Government Schools

Start listening at 17:57 – Hour 1

Kane, founder of Task Force Freedom, sounds the alarm on critical race theory and LGBTQ ideology targeting children in public schools. Operating in northern Colorado since November 2021, Kane and his team conduct county-by-county seminars exposing how schools divide students by race and push sexual content on children as young as kindergarten. He worked with Erin Lee, the courageous mother whose 12-year-old daughter was targeted by a teacher running what appeared to be an art class but was actually an LGBTQ indoctrination group.

Kane urges parents to withdraw children from government schools entirely, arguing the system is not broken but corrupt from top to bottom. He highlights Christian Home Educators of Colorado as a resource for families seeking alternatives and announces Task Force Freedom will help parents start homeschool programs and assist teachers in launching micro schools.

“The Caucasian race is under attack. Yes, this is a Negro saying this. If we lose the Western culture, I don’t care what your designation is, black, brown, pink, green, gay, lesbian, we will lose our country, and then we will lose the world.”

Kane, Founder of Task Force Freedom

Colorado’s Flawed Risk-Limited Audits

Start listening at 34:43 – Hour 1

Greg Lopez, Republican candidate for governor, reveals that Colorado’s risk-limited audits fail to verify election results as required by statute. Lopez sent certified letters to 11 county clerks demanding they perform audits correctly. Under Colorado law, audit boards must compare machine counts to hand counts, but Lopez discovered they only match ballot images to physical ballots without performing the critical hand-count verification step.

Colorado Revised Statute 1-7-515 requires risk-limited audits to give citizens confidence in election results, yet the current process merely confirms markings match rather than verifying accurate tabulation. Lopez argues this deception undermines claims that Colorado maintains a gold standard election system. With 99 days until the midterms, he pledges to continue pressing county clerks for proper audit procedures.

“You know they are circumventing that. They’re doing the step one and they’re not finishing with step two. They’re doing the precursor of how you actually do the audit itself, you know. And all they’re doing, Kim, is comparing images.”

Greg Lopez, Candidate for Governor

Inflation’s Unknown Impact on Colorado Pensions

Start listening at 69:58 – Hour 2

Joshua Sharf, senior fellow in fiscal policy at the Independence Institute, explains why Colorado’s Public Employees Retirement Association faces uncertain risks from inflation. Unlike private pensions, PERA benefits are guaranteed by taxpayers, yet the agency will not update its financial models until 2024, despite inflation reshaping the economic landscape since 2020.

Senate Bill 18-200 limited cost-of-living adjustments to just one percent annually, protecting PERA from immediate cash drains that plague other state pensions. However, Sharf warns the fund’s actuaries have not built sensitivity analyses showing how employer and employee responses to inflation might affect long-term solvency. With PERA covering state employees, teachers, judges, and many municipal workers, taxpayers ultimately bear the risk if the fund cannot meet obligations.

“Here’s the mystifying part of this. We don’t really know what the effect is going to be on PERA’s long-term funding ratio, meaning the amount of money that it has in hand as compared to the amount of money that it would need to have in hand to meet its future obligations.”

Joshua Sharf, Senior Fellow, Independence Institute