DENVER — With just under four weeks to go before the 2019 Colorado legislative session picks up, charges of illegal electioneering have been leveled against a newly elected Democrat state representative.
The Colorado Republican party filed the complaint with Weld County District Attorney Michael Rourke against House District 50 Rep.-elect Rochelle Galindo, D-Greeley last week, Daniel Cole, communications director for the GOP confirmed on Sunday.
Cole said now that the complaint is in the hands of the District Attorney’s office, party officials cannot comment further.
The charges stem from a Nov. 6th video Galindo posted on her Facebook page showing her escorting a group of interns into the voting center at the University of Northern Colorado. In the video, Galindo urges people to get out and vote and not to be intimidated to get out of line if they are in line at 7 p.m.
Near the end of the video, however, is where the allegations Galindo crossed the line stem from. The video shows she was inside the limit set by law, told by an election judge that she couldn’t be there, but continued to tell people to vote for her before she shut off the video.
Complete Colorado has reached out to both Galindo and the Colorado Democrat party for a comment and requested a copy of the complaint from the District Attorney’s office. Complete Colorado will update the story as more information becomes available.
Under Colorado law, “anyone who is advocating for the election or defeat of a candidate or a ballot measure must be at least 100 feet away from the entrance to the polling place.”
In the video, Galindo is inside the polling place standing with the line of people waiting to vote.
Violation of the law is a misdemeanor. Galindo could face up to a $1,000 penalty and 1 year in jail, if convicted.
This is not the first time Galindo has been accused of violating state campaign laws.
After being elected to Greeley City Council (in which she ran unopposed) in 2015, Galindo spent left over campaign money on a trip to Las Vegas with an undisclosed companion.
There were no complaints filed with the Secretary of State’s office in that instance before the statute of limitations ran out.
Michael Thuener, Galindo’s Republican opponent, released the following statement though his campaign team.
“We are aware that questions have been raised about some of the electioneering activities during the recent election and, while we accept the result of that contest, the determination of the legality of those activities is in the hands of the court. The state Republican party, as a general rule, evaluates all electioneering activity and strives to ensure free and fair elections for all. We are comfortable that, if there are violations, the court will act.”
