Coffman bows to clerks on mail vote

Secretary of state attempts to mend election fences

By Myung Oak Kim, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published January 18, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

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Coffman met with county clerks this week in Pueblo.

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Secretary of State Mike Coffman told county clerks Thursday that he will support their push for an all-mail general election in 2008.

The move - an effort to forge consensus and repair strained relations - came on the heels of a conference this week in Pueblo at which Coffman solicited clerks' preferences. Coffman previously had opposed all-mail voting, saying paper voting in precincts was the most reliable system.

Even with this new alliance, an all-mail election faces strong opposition from some lawmakers, voting-integrity activists, get-out-the-vote groups and even some clerks who say mail voting could disenfranchise new and minority voters, suppress turnout and be vulnerable to fraud.

Gov. Bill Ritter supports paper voting at polling places, spokesman Evan Dreyer said Thursday. He has not decided if he will support mandatory mail voting.

Bill in the works

Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, D-Denver, said he will introduce legislation next week to implement either all-mail voting or precinct paper voting.

Coffman threw election planning into chaos last month when he banned thousands of electronic voting and tallying machines used in all but 12 counties because of what he said were security and accuracy flaws.

Many clerks were upset about the decision because the machines had been certified previously and had worked without problems in many elections. They also were mad at Coffman for keeping them out of his yearlong review of the machines.

Clerks also are concerned about using a new statewide voter registration database - managed by Coffman's office - that hasn't been finished. That anxiety is one reason they have been pushing for an all-mail ballot in November, which they say is much less likely to strain the new computerized system.

Coffman has said he couldn't communicate much with clerks during testing because of a lawsuit that claimed clerks had too much influence on the previous secretary of state. A group of people who don't trust electronic voting equipment filed that suit, which resulted in a court order to redo the certification process.

In his letter to clerks Thursday, Coffman acknowledged their differences on voting methods.

"Ideally, I like to see voters cast their ballots at precinct polling sites on paper . . . however, we have a set of unique circumstances before us that require a solution that may be less than ideal but nonetheless necessary," Coffman wrote.

Coffman said the clerks' worries about using the new voter registration database in a precinct- style election affected his decision to support mail voting.

"I'm concerned about their comfort level in a presidential election that is projected to have a very high voter turnout," he said.

Douglas County Clerk Jack Arrowsmith said Coffman appeared sincere in his efforts to listen to clerks and that they appreciated that.

"I think it was a wonderful first step in terms of improving the relationship," Arrowsmith said.

He said 44 clerks at the conference voted for allmail voting and eight voted against it. Denver Clerk Stephanie O'Malley has said she does not support all-mail voting.

Mending fences

Political experts said Coffman needed to mend some fences.

"He has recognized now that his major constituency are these clerks and he has got to find as rapid a resolution of this as possible," said pollster Floyd Ciruli.

Eric Sondermann, a political consultant, said Coffman is doing "necessary damage control."

"The first and foremost thing that the public wants from the chief elections officer is a sense of confidence and stability," he said. "And instead . . . the last few months have been an atmosphere of complete confusion."

About 50 clerks and three electronic voting equipment manufacturers have appealed Coffman's decertification decisions. Coffman now must hold public hearings on those appeals.

A bill approved by a legislative committee Thursday should quicken that process.

The House State Affairs Committee unanimously approved a measure that would give Coffman greater flexibility to approve decertified machines after further testing and modifications.

Certified electronic voting machines are necessary to accommodate disabled voters, and election officials said they need the tallying machines to count ballots.

During the committee hearing, an election activist said she wanted the testing to be public. But some lawmakers are worried that would add to an already tight time schedule to get machines recertified by the August primary.

The House is expected to vote on the bill in the next few days.

kimm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2361 Staff writer Alan Gathright contributed to this report.

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