Ballot count edges closer

6,820 votes remain to be tabulated six days after election

Daniel J. Chacón and Julie Poppen, Rocky Mountain News

Published November 13, 2006 at midnight

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Nearly a week after voters went to the polls, the embattled Denver Election Commission still has about 6,820 ballots to tabulate, leaving two high-profile statewide races and the city's proposed preschool tax up in the air for the sixth consecutive day.

By Sunday night, the commission had counted 61,899 of the 65,719 absentee ballots.

Election workers this morning were expected to begin the laborious task of tallying the remaining 3,820 absentee ballots, which have to be duplicated by hand because they were either damaged or improperly filled out, and an estimated 3,000 provisional ballots.

The election commission has 14 days from the date of the general election to verify and count provisional ballots. But because of the number of expected out-of-county ballots, which are not counted, the process is not expected to take that long.

The two statewide races still hanging in the balance are the at-large University of Colorado regent's race and the one for secretary of state.

"My own vote is tied up in this mess," said Brian Davidson, a Republican running for the CU seat.

Davidson said he voted in Denver using a provisional ballot after the absentee ballot he requested failed to arrive in the mail. Davidson and his girlfriend, Jennifer, returned late Sunday from a four-day trip to Mexico, which they had planned about six months ago to either celebrate or unwind after the election.

"I've been walking around Playa del Carmen wondering if I was going to be a CU regent or not," he said.

Like Davidson, Democratic Sen. Ken Gordon, who is trailing Republican rival Mike Coffman in the contest for secretary of state, said he's not just waiting on Denver to finish tallying votes.

"I understand Pueblo's not done, and other counties have provisional ballots that need to be counted," Gordon said. "So I don't know. It could still be a couple of days until everything is done. They should count all the votes and then we'll see who has the most."

Ben Neilson, Pueblo County's elections supervisor, did not return messages left at his home. His wife said he was taking a break for the day. Earlier Sunday, a woman who answered the phone at the Pueblo County Clerk and Recorder's Office said everyone but her was gone.

Lynea Hansen, a spokeswoman for "Preschool Matters," which campaigned in support of a 0.12 percent increase in Denver's sales tax to help pay to send more kids to preschool, said Initiative 1A is still too close to call.

The Mayor's Leadership Team on Early Childhood Education, which developed the preschool plan, "has been working on this proposal for three years," Hansen said. "A few extra days isn't going to kill us.

"Our team has been pretty patient waiting for the numbers, but of course, as you can imagine, we're anxious for the results," she added.

Proponents of 1A are also waiting to find out whether the measure surpasses the 0.5 percent margin that triggers an automatic recount under Colorado law.

"Right now we are outside that window, but we spent most of (Saturday) inside of that window, so that's another factor that we'll be watching closely," Hansen said Sunday afternoon.

Gordon, who was eating lunch, reading a book and also getting the oil changed in his car about 2 p.m., said he was "going on with my life."

"I'm curious what's happening over there (at the Denver Election Commission), but they'll let me know when they're done, I guess," he said.

Alton Dillard, election commission spokesman, said it could be several more days before the 3,000 provisional ballots are counted - 1,000 of which still need to be verified.

Tuesday's voting fiasco, which not only delayed election results but prompted an untold number of voters who were unwilling or unable to wait in line up to three hours to walk away, has not gone unnoticed.

Dillard said an investigation would be launched into the numerous problems that plagued this year's election, including the snail paced absentee ballot count.

He said one of the county's two 5-year-old scanners broke down Tuesday afternoon.

Election workers were left with one machine until it was repaired Thursday morning and a third loaned to the city by Sequoia Voting Systems, which is Denver's voting machine contractor.

"Yes, we had quadrupled the (voter) turnout since the August primary, but it shouldn't have drowned the process," Dillard said. "We just have to get this election put to bed before we jump into investigation mode."

Election commissioner Susan Rogers said they lost four days to count absentee ballots because the deadline for voters to request the ballots was extended to Oct. 31.

"We got a late rush of absentee requests," she said.

Additionally, she said it was the first major election to be handled out of the division's new, cramped offices.

Officials planned to count the 3,820 duplicate absentee ballots today. A bipartisan panel of election judges created the duplicates to replace ballots that were kicked out of the counter due to coffee smudges, scribbles or other abnormalities.

Because the two counting machines owned by the county are known as "Thing 1" and "Thing 2," each machine was graced by a stuffed version of the Dr. Seuss characters.

On Friday, the fuzzy red creatures with wild tufts of blue hair were upright. By Sunday afternoon, they hung upside down by their toes.

"They let us down," Dillard said.

By the numbers

The Denver Election Commission has been counting absentee ballots since Tuesday's voting problems, leaving two statewide races and the city's proposed preschool tax hanging in the balance.

40,000 Number of ballots counted by midafternoon Friday

50,000 Number counted by midafternoon Saturday

61,899 Number counted by 11 p.m. Sunday

3,000 Number of provisional ballots that still have to be verified and counted

chacond@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-5099

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