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'We Need To Be Patient': Former Gov. Bill Owens Urges Calm During Final Ballot Counts

DENVER (CBS4)- Colorado's Republican party is reacting to the vote counting as the President makes claims of fraud and asks for a halt to some vote counting. It's been a difficult period as Colorado confirmed a move from purple to blue in statewide balloting.

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Former Gov. Bill Owens (credit: CBS)

President Donald Trump remains 13 points behind in the latest vote count in Colorado, which is still counting some remaining ballots.

"My suggestion is, we need to be patient. This was a complicated election. With COVID a lot of people voted by mail, a lot of other people voted in person," said former Republican Governor Bill Owens. "What we need to do is let the process work out and count all the ballots and then let's have ourselves either a re-elected president or a new president."

Owens called for a cooling of rhetoric, "I wish the temperature of discussion would come down. I wish could simply take a look at the process, take a deep breath and let the let the process work."

Other Republicans released statements, like Congressman Doug Lamborn.

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(credit: CBS)

"Every vote that complies with state election laws should count. Illegal votes undermine the integrity of the election process and confidence in the electorate," he said in a statement released to CBS4.

Congressman Ken Buck wrote on Facebook, "All legal votes should be counted and the process should be fully transparent. It is important that we protect the integrity of our free and fair elections."

The office of outgoing Sen. Cory Gardner, who lost to John Hickenlooper in Colorado's senate race, did not reply to inquiries, nor did the staff of incoming Congresswoman-elect Lauren Boebert. But she did post on Twitter Friday evening, "Ensuring that legal votes are the only votes counted is called DEFENDING an election, not undermining it."

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(credit: CBS)

Owens moderate tone included a request for calm, noting Americans did not dispute election results even in the election of 1864, during the Civil War.

"These are important things we're fighting for. But at the end of the day we have to count the results and agree to accept the result… You know we live in a very divisive world and one of the things that should unite us, is the fact that in this country, people rule. Our votes count, will be counted and then have results. That's what I want to wait to see."

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