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DENVER (KDVR) – Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold has overseen some of the most tumultuous moments in modern Colorado election history. She’s also overseen her department’s most cash-infused years to date.

Local and national media shone a spotlight on Griswold on Oct. 1, when she Tweeted that the national media should hold back election night results. She has since apologized and deleted her tweets.

Griswold’s year reflects her election promises to use her position to increase voter turnout. She has been highly visible in both defending mail-ballot voting for the upcoming election and in sending voter information.

Colorado Department of State finances show the Department of State’s election focus in cold cash.

Federal involvement explains an increase in Department of State appropriations, but only partly.

Colorado appropriates an average $25 million a year from the state operating budget for the Department of State. In fiscal year 2019-20, which ended this summer, it received $40 million.

That’s the largest amount the department has gotten in the state’s history, including federal election years. The federal government did provide $6.3 million of this so the state could compensate counties for a change in the presidential primary. However, even without federal funding it would make FY 2019-20 the highest yet.

This year, the state department received $31.3 million, plus an additional $6.7 million from a federal program designed to educate voters in the year of the coronavirus as part of the CARES Act. This money boosts the total operating budget to $38 million.

This makes the election season particularly flush. The Secretary of State must spend CARES Act funds before the end of 2020.

Elections focus is evident in internal financial brackets, as well.

The Colorado Department of State has four divisions administration, elections, information technology, and business and licensing. Each gets a percentage of the department’s appropriations.

Historically, information technology and administration both made up bigger percentages of the appropriation than elections.

Beginning in FY 2019-20, the elections division now makes up the biggest percentage of department appropriations, again for the first time.