DENVER — Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold has appointed two advisors to help in overseeing the upcoming elections in Mesa County.
Sheila Reiner — the Republican Mesa County treasurer and former county clerk — and Wayne Williams — a former Republican secretary of state — will serve as advisors to Brandi Bantz, who was appointed to serve as the Mesa County Designated Election Official for the primary and general elections in 2022.
Griswold said Reiner, Williams and Bantz “did a tremendous job working together during Mesa County’s 2021 election.” Williams served as the DEO in 2021.
In May, a Mesa County judge granted Griswold's request to appoint Bantz, who is the current Mesa County Director of Elections and a former senior elections specialist in El Paso County, after barring Peters from serving as the DEO for the county through the completion of all 2022 election related activities.
The decision stemmed from aJanuary lawsuit filed by Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold after Peters said she would not comply with the secretary of state’s conditions for Peters to oversee elections again. She was also barred from overseeing the 2021 elections. Peters has also been indicted by a grand jury in relation to her allegedtampering with election equipment last year.
A recently released report by the Republican Mesa County district attorney found there was no outside interference in elections in 2020 and 2021 in the county, as was claimed by conspiracy theorists there.
Peters is also running for the Republican nomination for secretary of state in Colorado.
