Colorado Secretary of State’s Office Altering Operations Due to Coronavirus

This content was originally published by the Longmont Observer and is licensed under a Creative Commons license.

The Colorado Secretary of State’s Office will be altering some of its daily operations in response to COVID-19 in an effort to protect employees and customers.  The office has arranged for many of its employees to tele-work.  Services will remain largely unchanged.  The office will reassess on a weekly basis when to resume standard operations.

“It’s important that we all do our part to help combat the spread of coronavirus,” said Secretary of State of Jena Griswold.  “After discussion with our internal staff as well as with state health officials and other state agencies, the prudent action is to make some operational changes in order to help safeguard our employees and the public.  I’m confident that our carefully considered contingency plans will enable our services to the public to remain as uninterrupted as possible given these extraordinary circumstances.” 

Customers will still be able to take advantage of all services offered by the Secretary of State.  Most services provided by the office, including business filings, are available online at www.sos.state.co.us. Secretary Griswold encourages all customers to seek services online or via customer service phone numbers before coming to the office in person.  Throughout the week, the office will be transitioning its call centers to operate remotely for all divisions, including business and licensing, charities, and elections, so customers should continue to call the office as needed. 

Individuals seeking to file apostilles at the office can still do so, but will now submit those documents via a drop box that will be placed outside the office’s waiting area.  The office’s physical location will be open to the public at this time but should circumstances change, the public will be notified.  Again, the public is encouraged to utilize online resources or the drop box for most transactions.

Candidates submitting petitions to appear on the June 30 State Primary ballot are still required to have them to the Secretary of State’s Office by the regularly scheduled deadline on Tuesday, March 17.  At this time, petitions must be delivered in person.  Candidates should contact the Elections Division to schedule a time to drop off petitions.   

For general questions, please call 303-894-2200.  For a complete list of division contact information, click here.  The office will continue to monitor the situation with guidance from the CDC and the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.