County clerks urge all-mail election
Plea caps week of controversy about machines
By David Montero, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Saturday, December 22, 2007
Coffman has decertified electronic machines.
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County clerks told legislators Friday to draft legislation making 2008 an all mail-in election, even though the secretary of state is resisting the idea.
Four county clerks were at a legislative committee meeting and said that 70 percent of all county clerks want voters to cast their ballots by mail in the 2008 election, when voters will be choosing a new U.S. senator and president.
The plea capped a week of turmoil touched off when Secretary of State Mike Coffman decertified the electronic voting and vote-counting machines used by most of the counties in the state. The decision alarmed county clerks, who are wondering just exactly how they will be able to put on an election.
Clerks say they don't have the money to replace the equipment, and they doubt they have the time to train workers to use it if they did.
"We currently have no options to conduct an election as things stand right now," Jefferson County Clerk and Recorder Pam Anderson bluntly told the Joint Budget Committee that met Friday to discuss the matter.
And, according to the Grand Junction Sentinel, a Mesa County commissioner said she would risk having results thrown out and a lawsuit by Coffman rather than replace the county's electronic voting machines.
"How does he (Coffman) think people are to hold elections?" Commissioner Janet Rowland said during a meeting. "If (Coffman) wants to sue us, he can sue us."
The integrity of the election, and voter confidence, are looming as major issues for the legislature, which opens its session Jan. 9.
Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction, said he would like to have something for Gov. Bill Ritter to sign by the end of January, so Colorado doesn't "end up the poster child like Florida was eight years ago."
Ritter said it would be a top priority, though he hadn't been fully briefed on the committee's meeting.
"Until everybody's had an opportunity to weigh in, we're not going to take any position on specific legislation," he said. "But it is clearly a difficult situation and one that needs fixing."
The clerks are pushing mail ballots as a stop-gap measure to keep the election on track.
But Coffman said he believes that an all mail-in election could result in votes being coerced: "It would be great that the person makes a decision on their own about how they cast their ballot. Do they want to cast in the privacy of a voting booth or do they want to cast it at a dining room table with their spouse looking over their shoulder?"
Stephanie O'Malley, county clerk and recorder for Denver, also had concerns about a mandatory all mail-in ballot.
O'Malley, who attended the committee hearing, said that state law requires clerks to classify voters inactive if they don't vote in a major election. O'Malley said that would mean as many as 150,000 registered voters may not receive a ballot next year unless a special request is made.
About 75 percent of Denver's machines passed muster.
Coffman's decision was the result of a court-ordered review begun last year of electronic voting systems used in Colorado.
The decertified machines, including scanning devices for counting paper ballots, are made by three companies - Election Systems & Software, Hart InterCivic and Sequoia Voting Systems. Coffman conditionally approved all equipment made by Premier Election Solutions, formerly Diebold.
Coffman said that some of the fixes for existing machines in the state could be accomplished in 45 days. An example he gave was a simple software patch on faulty machines.
He is asking the legislature to modify state law to streamline the approval process, which he says is overly bureaucratic.
"Let me say my goal is to get these vendors across the finish line but not compromise accuracy and security in doing so," he said.
Staff writer Chris Barge contributed to this report.
Comments
Posted by MissSio on December 21, 2007 at 3:59 p.m. (Suggest removal)
Coffman's worried about secret voting, a spouse looking over his shoulder?! If you're that worried that your significant other will know who you want to vote for, maybe seeing a counselor in communication is in order, not a private voting booth. (or just go into the bathroom, lol)
We need to do something soon, an all-mail ballot might be a pain for counting, but better three days before election results than false ones.
Posted by Art on December 21, 2007 at 4:23 p.m. (Suggest removal)
There are many ways that an all mail election would be less secure than any of the voting machines beyond one's spouse looking over the shoulder. Mail ballots are the least secure and most prone to fraud of any type of election method. If the electronic machines are not reliable then we should return to the tried and true, relatively secure, all paper ballots. These would certainly take longer to count and verify but this would be far superior to mail in ballots. It almost appears as if Coffman's tactics are being taken in an effort to force the all mail balloting, though this is not very likely. There are some who see an advantage in this since they know that these can be manipulated easily and the secret ballot becomes a thing of the past. Any ballot which is mailed in is open to scrutiny as to who was the voter and for whom they voted. Let's don't let ourselves get into the quagmire which would result from an all mail election.
Posted by Camanay on December 22, 2007 at 8:53 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Having recently moved from Oregon, where all elections are mail-in only, I strongly recommend this system of voting. One has two weeks to reflect in private on candidates and issues with the help of a thorough voting booklet. No more long lines, heavy traffic, lousy weather, and short time-frame (Election Day). Ballots and counting procedures were well safeguarded, and I never heard a single complaint about Oregon's voting methods. Last year, when Tillamook went underwater on Election Day, the vote still went on and was counted in a timely manner.
Please think on't. Happy Holidays!
Posted by Brockage on December 22, 2007 at 10:25 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Use Scantron machines - easy to be trained on, a paper trail and relatively quick results; otherwise voting will be rife with corruption -- people voting in the place of grandma, in the place of the sick and senile, bossy husbands voting in the place of "the little lady" -- there's no end to the opportunity for corruption of the voting system with and all-mail ballot election.
Posted by freethinker07 on December 23, 2007 at 1:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Nobody has been checking for the possibility of fraud in mail ballots. I would be a lot happier if a sample of last election's mail ballots could be verified with the voter.
I bet that some reporter will try to cast several fraudulent ballots. If he succeeds, it will make Florida 2000 debacle look like a picnic.
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