Electronic voting figure takes new job

Gardner snared in lawsuit over qualifications

By Myung Oak Kim, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published June 14, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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An employee in the secretary of state's office who was a controversial figure in a lawsuit filed by activists opposed to electronic voting has left for a post in the El Paso County clerk's office.

John Gardner, of Colorado Springs, worked in the elections division for three years under three secretaries of state and managed the testing of electronic voting and tallying machines used statewide.

It does not appear Gardner left under negative circumstances.

He said Friday he left because he was offered his old job back by El Paso County Clerk Bob Balink.

Gardner's co-worker in Secretary of State Mike Coffman's office, Timothy Bishop, also left for a post in Balink's office.

Gardner began working Monday as manager of Balink's IT division.

In their 2006 lawsuit against former Secretary of State Gigi Dennis, voting activists accused Gardner of being unqualified for the e-voting certification job because of his lack of expertise in computer science.

The judge in that case ordered new testing with stricter security standards.

Coffman, who took office in January 2007, kept Gardner on as testing manager but also hired outside auditors to check his team's work.

Activists still contend Coffman's certification process violated law and are mulling another lawsuit.

Paul Hultin, the lead lawyer in the 2006 suit, said Gardner's exit from Coffman's office is good.

"Through no fault of his own, the important responsibilities (of certifying e-voting equipment) were thrust upon him for which he was not qualified."

Gardner said the three state election officials under whom he worked "all had confidence in me that I could do the job."

kimm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2361

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