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Paper ballots lose big backers

Secretary of state's recertification of machines decisive

Chris Barge and Alan Gathright

Published March 20, 2008 at 12:30 a.m.

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The wheels came off a plan to shift to paper ballots for November's presidential election when Gov. Bill Ritter and lawmakers said Wednesday that voters can trust electronic machines after all.

A bill that the Senate was set to start debating today directing the state to conduct an all-paper-ballot election will be DOA, lawmakers said.

Ritter and three of the bill's four sponsors yanked their support, saying it was no longer necessary because Secretary of State Mike Coffman has recertified the voting machines.

"I've had extensive conversations with individuals in the secretary of state's office and the secretary of state. . . . All told, I think we're at a place where the people of Colorado can be confident that this system will work," Ritter said.

Coffman backed the decision.

"Voters can rest assured that the certification process was rigorous and comprehensive and ensures that each voting system is secure and can accurately count every vote," he said.

Coffman blamed

But lawmakers from both parties blamed the turmoil on Coffman, who decertified most of the state's electronic voting machines in December and has flip-flopped on backing paper ballots - ultimately turning against them last week.

"It was an unholy mess," said House Majority Leader Alice Madden, D-Denver, who joined Republican House Minority Leader Mike May and Republican Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany in withdrawing their sponsorship of the bill.

Madden said the governor and the legislature's leadership only initially supported the bill because Coffman decertified the machines.

"That seemed our only choice, given that we had no idea what machines would be certified or not, and we're a few short months from probably the biggest election in our history," Madden said.

A paper-ballot election would have forced the state to come up with $11 million it didn't have, and county clerks across the state were against the switch, Madden said.

When Coffman recertified the machines, the problem essentially went away, she said.

"I have to say - the decertification we always knew was questionable," Madden said. "But we couldn't say it wasn't real. He's the secretary of state."

McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, said lawmakers seized on a paper-ballot solution because they were under pressure when the voting machines' reliability was questioned.

'Makes sense'

"With the machines recertified, to me it makes sense to go back and use the machines that are already there and paid for," McElhany added. "I've got total confidence in the machines."

McElhany said he thought the chaos that resulted from fellow Republican Coffman's decertifying the machines was preventable.

"Perhaps they should have never been decertified," McElhany said. "It might've been a mess that could have been avoided."

Other lawmakers weren't surprised by the latest snag in the troubled voting system saga.

"It's like Where's Waldo and what page is the secretary of state on today?" said Joint Budget Committee Chairman Rep. Bernie Buescher, D-Grand Junction.

Senate Majority Leader Ken Gordon, D-Denver, wrote the paper-ballot bill and said he plans to push for its passage even though the other sponsors have jumped ship.

"I support the bill and I'm going to ask people to vote for it," Gordon said.

"I think that there are problems with electronic voting machines. And with paper ballots, you've got something you can verify, audit and recount."

One activist still lobbying lawmakers to go with paper ballots predicted that someone may file another lawsuit challenging the reliability of electronic voting machines.

"It might be premature to say the bill's dead," said Harvie Branscomb, a Colorado Voter Group member from Eagle County.

Branscomb said he wants polling places to have enough paper ballots.

That way if electronic machines break down, people don't leave without voting - as thousands of Denver voters did during the troubled 2006 election.

"I'm really disappointed with the governor's office," said Claudia Kuhns, executive director with Public Integrity Project. "He came out and made this announcement that this is what we need to do, and he's not sticking to his guns."

Free to run elections

Without a bill from the legislature, counties would be free to run their elections as they wish, whether by using paper ballots or electronic voting machines.

Denver already planned to run a paper-ballot election regardless of what happened at the Capitol and would still be able to do so.

Rio Blanco County Clerk Nancy Amick, the president of the Colorado County Clerks Association, said she wants the issue resolved.

"We're out of time," she said. "We've got elections to run. We need to get down to business."

Staff writers Berny Morson and Tillie Fong and The Associated Press contributed to this report.

What they said then and now

* Gov. Ritter on Jan. 23:

"Paper ballots are a tried-and-true election method that has worked for decades."

What he said Wednesday:

"All told, I think we're at a place where the people of Colorado can be confident that this (electronic voting) system will work."

* What Senate Minority Leader Andy McElhany, R-Colorado Springs, said Feb. 26.

Paper ballots are the "most foolproof system that allows every vote to be counted."

What McElhany said Wednesday:

"I've got total confidence in the machines."

Comments

  • March 20, 2008

    7:54 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Marshdale writes:

    Televisions, computers, fax machines, communications systems, are all rigorously tested prior to going to market, and yet they fail all of the time. What the hell makes them think these machines can't fail. We have lost our democracy folks. Paper is the only sure way to get accurrate counts. Do our poiticians not care about our democracy any more? I would say it is plainly obvious that they do not. This is a discrace to the country and the Constitution. We have lost our liberty folks.