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DENVER (KDVR) — On Sept. 2, President Donald Trump announced that the headquarters of Space Command will move from Colorado Springs to Huntsville, Alabama.

The President said Colorado’s mail-in ballot system “played a big factor” in moving Space Command, shortly after his short-lived assertions to ban mail-in ballots last month. Trump noted Tuesday that he won Alabama by about 47 points and said voting records didn’t influence his decision.

Trump lost Colorado to Harris by about 11 points.

“I will say I want to thank Colorado. The problem I have with Colorado, one of the big problems, they do mail-in voting. They went to all mail-in voting,” Trump stated Tuesday. “So, they have automatically crooked elections and we can’t have that. When a state is for mail-in voting, that means they want dishonest elections because that’s what that means. So, that played a big factor.”

Trump said in August mail-in ballots allow “massive voter fraud,” and alleged that Russian President Vladimir Putin agreed with Trump about the “dishonest” nature of mail-in ballots. Dozens of countries use mail-in ballots for elections.

Colorado officials called the president’s statements about Space Command and the state’s election systems “more distractions and lies,” and said that his actions were a “naked abuse of power.” The entire Colorado delegation, which includes Democratic and Republican legislators, said that moving U.S. Space Command would hurt Colorado and the nation.

“Trump’s decision to move Space Command to Alabama is an abuse of power and a blatantly political decision,” said U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet on Tuesday. “From the Oval Office earlier today, the President of the United States made clear that in making his decision, he was rewarding his political friends and allies.

“His comment about winning Alabama by 47 points says it all,” Bennet continued, “and I think captures his approach to this decision throughout the time that it’s arisen over the last number of years, he has also described Colorado’s mail-in ballot system as corrupt and that they played a ‘big factor’ in his decision to take Space Command away from Colorado and send it to Alabama.”

About a third of all voters nationally use mail-in voting, and FOX31 learned that in Colorado, about 92% of registered Republicans who voted in the 2024 presidential election filled out the ballot that was mailed to them.

GOP election officials also against moving Space Command

“It is deeply ironic that President Trump made a decision about the Space Force based on Colorado’s election model, yet moved it to Alabama, a state whose system provides neither the access nor the security that Colorado’s does,” said Matt Crane, Executive Director of the Colorado County Clerks Association, who is a Republican.

Crane said that in 2013, Colorado’s county clerks designed the first mail-in ballot system for the U.S., which is now recognized as “the most reliable, transparent, and accessible election model in the country. He said the system was “deliberately structured to serve Republicans, Democrats, and Independents alike.

He told FOX31’s Jared Dean that it was disappointing to hear about Trump’s decision to move Space Force, just based on the economic impact, but said Trump’s statements tying the decision to Colorado’s elections exacerbated the already frustrating issue.

“I mean, it’s very much par for the course for the world we’re living in, where the president, unfortunately, has been listening to the wrong people when it comes to how our elections are conducted. Rather than talk to experts who actually do the work, he’s chosen to listen to grifters and bad actors who feed his ego,” Crane told Dean.

Crane said Alabama’s voter turnout is among the lowest in the nation and does not have the controls or security that Colorado’s elections have.

“The results speak for themselves,” said Hayle Johnson, Colorado County Clerks Association president and Jackson County Clerk and Recorder, in a clerks’ association release. “In the 2024 Presidential Election, Colorado achieved 73.1% turnout of eligible voters compared to just 58.8% in Alabama. Colorado leads the nation because our clerks take their responsibility to democracy seriously. They are neighbors and community leaders who work tirelessly to safeguard every ballot and every voter’s voice.”

While Colorado has multiple voting options (ballot drop boxes, in-person centers, and accessible voting), the state also has layered security that includes ballot tracking, signature verification, and post-election audits to confirm accuracy. Public testing of voting equipment and bipartisan oversight is also in “every step of the process.”

“Colorado’s model is proof that strong access and strong security can coexist. Voters can track their ballots online and know with certainty that their votes are counted. Independent audits after every election confirm the accuracy of our results, safeguards that states like Alabama simply do not have,” Crane said in a press release sent Tuesday.

He said that almost 90% of Colorado voters polled in December 2024 said they liked the way Colorado votes, and said it feels secure and accessible.

“Now, for whatever reason, Colorado is also one of the central areas in the country where election denialism comes from, Mike Lindell’s election denialism operation, a lot of that is run here in Colorado by people from here; the Dominion lies, started by a guy here in Castle Rock who is now going through defamation cases because of the lies that he’s spread,” Crane said. “There’s a small minority of people who push these lies, either for political or financial gain. But otherwise, the vast majority of Colorado citizens …. they love voting with their mail ballot.”

Lindell was found liable by a jury in June for defaming a former employee of a leading voting equipment company. Lindell has also promoted false claims that voting machines were manipulated to steal the 2020 election from Trump.

Also notable in Colorado’s election landscape is Tina Peters, who was the Mesa County Clerk in 2020 who has since been found guilty of three counts of attempting to influence a public servant, one count of conspiracy to commit criminal impersonation, first-degree official misconduct, violation of duty and failing to comply with the secretary of state after a security breach in the 2020 election, which helped Trump’s supporters access confidential data about the presidential election.

Trump said on Truth Social in August that the clerk, who was sentenced to nine years in prison for her wrongdoings, “did nothing wrong.”

Secretary of State: Trump ‘spreads lies and misinformation’

Colorado Secretary of State Jena Griswold told FOX31 on Tuesday that Trump is not looking to fix policies that may have led Colorado voters to not vote for him, and instead decided “just to blame and lash out.” She said members of the military should not be used as political pawns.

“Trump continuously spreads lies and misinformation about our elections,” Griswold told Dean on Tuesday. “And now, in his decision to move Space Command, he’s stripping potentially thousands of people of their jobs and decreasing our nation’s readiness.”

Griswold called Trump a “hypocrite,” noting that he and his family have used mail-in ballots.

“And just last year, he was encouraging Republican voters to use mail ballots,” Griswold said. “Our elections are safe and secure. This is not about election security. This is about the fact that Trump is trying to grab power ahead of the 2026 elections and is directly attacking our democracy.”

She said the president does not have the power to ban mail-in ballots. She said that she believes the president is now trying to “browbeat his opponents,” which includes Colorado in this case.

“Mail ballots are not about helping one party over the other,” Griswold told FOX31’s Jared Dean. “All the data shows that, and at the local level, at the state level, Republicans stand up for a mail ballot system. And I’m so grateful that they do: We have great county clerks. The majority are Republicans, who will tell you our elections are safe and will protect them.”

Griswold said that mail-in ballots “are literally a piece of paper,” and noted that foreign adversaries cannot hack the ballots.

A Defense Department inspector general review about why Colorado was chosen over Alabama was inconclusive. Trump has long been expected to move Space Command back to Alabama.