(TELLER COUNTY, Colo.) — The Teller County Sheriff’s Office (TCSO) released a statement writing that many elected parties in Teller County have confidence in the County Clerk to run a safe, fair, and free election.

The statement comes after what TCSO said were recent news articles alleging irregularities or lapses in technological security and processes in other counties in Colorado. TCSO said these allegations are not reflective of the voting systems, processes, and technology in Teller County.

Teller County’s efforts in election security include:

The investment of over $300,000 in new, state-of-the-art vote tabulating software that is not capable of being connected to wireless networks.

The use of newly formatted flash drives to transfer voting data instead of USB cables connected to a computer.

A vote counting system that creates a data and image record of each ballot counted and links them together for easy cross-verification.

Hand verification of all signatures on submitted ballot envelopes.

Consistent and secure chain of custody processes for collecting and transporting ballots to the Election Center.

Reconciliation of returned ballot reports from the United States Postal Service to the actual ballots returned to the clerk’s office.

Video surveillance of all ballot drop boxes 24/7, which are checked and verified daily.

TCSO said County Commissioners, the elected heads of Woodland Park, Criple Creek, and Victor, and the chairs of the Teller County Republican and Democratic Parties have a high level of confidence in the Teller County Clerk and Recorder to conduct the elections.

“We encourage every eligible resident to exercise their individual right to vote and share in our confidence that every legal vote will be counted, and counted properly,” read the statement.