All-paper voting bill has bipartisan face

Top legislative leaders in both parties back it; county clerks skeptical

By Myung Oak Kim, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published February 27, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

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Colorado will be among the first states to return to an all-paper-ballot election this November if a bill introduced Tuesday becomes law.

The bill is a victory for activists who sued state election officials, saying electronic voting machines are untrustworthy and vulnerable to hacking.

"It is a huge step forward," said Myriah Conroy, a plaintiff in the 2006 suit against then-Secretary of State Gigi Dennis. "It is really brave and courageous of the (legislative) leadership to bring this forth."

But many county clerks call the paper-ballot proposal a step backward, predicting long lines and glitches on Election Day and delayed results. In fact, clerks nicknamed the measure the "Help Colorado Wait in Line Act."

'Chaos' predicted

"There is going to be chaos," Mesa County Clerk Janice Rich said Tuesday. "Welcome to Florida 2008."

The bill calls for voters statewide to cast paper ballots at polling sites for the August primary and November general elections, but also allows people to vote on touchscreen machines if they ask to.

The measure has unprecedented support - the only bill this year to be co-sponsored by the top Republican and Democratic leaders of both chambers, according to Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, D-Denver.

Backed by Gov. Bill Ritter, it is expected to quickly become law, but not without strong outcry from county clerks, who want to use machines or do mail-only elections.

Gordon, the lead sponsor, said he designed the 22-page proposal to address weaknesses in the state's election system and to raise voter confidence that was shaken when Secretary of State Mike Coffman banned scores of electronic voting and tallying machines in December because of security and accuracy problems. Coffman has since recertified many machines.

"When Mike Coffman decertified the electronic voting machines, he added weight to the concerns of many people in the country that the electronic voting machines are not reliable," Gordon said. "Whether or not this is true, I felt that the way to best ensure voter confidence was to move toward paper ballots."

In a letter to county clerks Tuesday, Ritter acknowledged the difficult environment for clerks. But he also pointed out the dangers of continuing to use electronic voting.

"The risk of litigation and lack of public trust in previously decertified equipment makes the widespread use of these machines in 2008 infeasible," Ritter wrote.

"Paper ballots provide a verifiable paper trail and minimize the risk of technology failures on Election Day."

'Most foolproof system'

Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, said lawmakers considered a number of options for 2008 elections, but decided that paper ballots were the "most foolproof system that allows every vote to be counted."

He said he doesn't know any other bill this year with such a high level of bipartisan sponsorship. It is sponsored by Gordon, McElhany, House Minority Leader Mike May, R-Parker, and House Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Boulder.

"We all want to get to the same place," McElhany said. "We don't want it to take on partisan overtones."

Nancy Amick, Rio Blanco clerk and president of the Colorado County Clerks Association, said many clerks are "very distressed" about the bill. She said her organization is likely not to support the bill unless it includes a provision that allows clerks to adopt all-mail voting.

Millions of dollars short

She also said the $3.5 million allocated from the state general fund to pay for additional county expenses is millions of dollars short of what is needed.

Gordon said he tried to make the bill more workable for clerks and will continue to try to help them. One significant provision that clerks support is removal of a state requirement to report election results by precinct for early voting and for counties that use vote centers. The bill allows those clerks to give county-level results this year.

But voting activists and get-out-the-vote groups aren't happy about that provision.

Kristen Thomson, of People for the American Way, said the precinct reporting requirement is crucial for accurate voting statistics used in future redistricting.

The bill is expected to be formally introduced in the Senate today and assigned to a committee for a public hearing.

Colorado is among five states considering a move to paper ballots. The others are Florida, New Mexico, California and Ohio.

The paper voting proposal is expected to affect some clerks much more than others. Until now, counties adopted voting systems of their choice. Some use paper ballots counted on machines, as this proposal calls for. But other counties, including Arapahoe, Adams, Jefferson and Mesa, have moved in recent years to all-electronic voting, and thus face massive obstacles.

This bill also is not the only major change in Colorado's election system. Clerks in 49 counties still don't know whether they can use scanning machines and software used to count paper ballots. Coffman decertified those machines in December but has since been retesting them and considering other factors and new information provided by manufacturers. He is expected to decide that issue in the next week.

kimm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2361

What voters need to know

Voters statewide would cast paper ballots at polls for the Aug. 12 primary and Nov. 4 general elections under a bill introduced Tuesday. If the bill becomes law:

* Registered voters can request a mail ballot (even if they're not going to be out of state on Election Day) that they can drop off at the county clerk's office or mail back before Election Day.

* Voters also can vote early at designated polling sites during the two-week period before Election Day.

* On Election Day, voters will be given a paper ballot to fill out at the polling site. But voters who ask to use an electronic voting machine will be permitted to do so.

Elections Division on move

The Denver Elections Division will move to a new home in May.

"It will give us plenty of space to count ballots," Michael Scarpello, director of elections, said Tuesday at the monthly public meeting of the Denver Clerk and Recorder's office Tuesday night.

The move will consolidate two spaces the division currently uses into one building with 37,000 square feet of space at 3888 E. Mexico Ave., near Interstate 25 and Colorado Boulevard.

The 10,000-square-foot office the division occupies now will be available to other city agencies.

Also discussed at the meeting:

* Voting sites: 260 sites have been surveyed, with 179 that are "looking good," with 373 precincts already assigned, and 53 more to assign. "So far, the search is going very well," said Scarpello.

* Election judges: There was some concern expressed by the League of Women Voters that the city will only be selecting full-time election judges, which would eliminate a large pool of residents who want to do it part time. Scarpello said the city was looking at full-time judges because it would be easier to train 1,600 full-time people than 3,200 part-time people.

• February 26, 2008

  11:26 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  AJacksonCountyStar writes:

  Just a few years ago the State of Colorado required counties to purchase electronic voting machines at a tremendous cost to the counties. Small counties were hit especially hard by the unnecessary investment in what will now be obsolete equipment. Will the State compensate counties for its indecisiveness in just what is the best way to allow us to vote? Just another example of how wasteful legislators are with our tax dollars.

• February 26, 2008

  11:40 p.m.

  Suggest removal

  peterpi writes:

  I've been an election judge in Denver for over 20 years. I'd love to know what People for the American Way and all those other groups who think paper ballots are fool-proof totally verifiable and fraud-proof are smoking. "Stuffing the ballot box" came centuries before Diebold created its first machine.
  If people thought the 2006 Denver elections were a mess think of volunteers counting thousands of ballots. The paper activists also want hand counting.
  In 2006, the voting machines worked fine, it was the stupid registration system that failed miserably.

• February 27, 2008

  1:49 a.m.

  Suggest removal

  analytixman writes:

  Passing this bill is clear a step backwards. Here we are living in a state where the every business possible is trying to go "green" and we have foolish legislators who want to go back in time to a slow, wasteful process. This will cost too much money and consume far too many resources. 90% of the world uses online banking. We trust our finances to the internet and the levels of security seen in the baning industry, why cant an online voting system be developed? Online voting would save millions in transportation, production costs, there are no lines, and everyone can vote using modern technology? Think of the money saved by not consuming all the energy to staff and execute on a process that is very simple to solve with a database and 2 levels of ID security.

  Crafting and voting for a bill like this is just a desperate measure by people who have no creative skills and still listen to 8 track tapes. Desperate people do desperate things and this is just plain stupid.

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