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Colorado will be under watchful eyes of media, monitors on Election Day

By Myung Oak Kim, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published October 20, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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All eyes are on Colorado for the presidential election.

National media outlets, voting rights groups and election experts are coming to Colorado - or already are here - to monitor voting on Nov. 4.

The reasons: Colorado has had a history of voting problems and it's a key state in the race for the White House.

"Everyone is paying attention to everything that is happening in Colorado right now," said Dan Seligson, an editor at Electionline.org, a Washington, D.C., organization that studies election issues. "It's the same thing in Pennsylvania and Ohio. These are the states that everyone is watching."

CNN has sent a reporter and production team to Colorado to work full-time until the election, said national political director Sam Feist. These teams are in only three other states - Ohio, Florida and Virginia.

"It's a critical state for the first time in many years and both candidates are competing hard for it," Feist said.

Feist said if John McCain wins the important states that George W. Bush won in 2004, such as Florida and Ohio, the election could hinge on Colorado.

Other groups are more concerned about long lines on Election Day and possible voting equipment breakdowns.

Electronic voting suspect

Electionline.com and its sister organizations are sending staff to Colorado and a handful of other states.

David Becker, a lawyer who used to monitor elections for the Justice Department and who works with the group, said he'll focus on Denver polling sites but will also try to visit other parts of the state.

"Colorado has had some issues in the past with regard to electronic poll books and other technology issues," said Becker. "We want to see how Colorado's election administrators have worked to resolve those issues."

A recent national report by election monitoring groups said Colorado is poorly prepared to handle electronic voting machine failures on Election Day.

Secretary of State Mike Coffman said, "It's no secret that Colorado is in the eye of the storm." He recently visited all of the county clerks and "they're well aware of the pressures on this election. But they're professionals and have laid the foundation for a smooth election."

Scrutiny has been especially intense on Denver. That's one reason why Denver Elections recently added a link on its Web site called "myths and rumors."

The page deals with, among other things, claims that dead people are on the voting rolls and provisional ballots will be counted only if the race is close (both false).

Spokesman Alton Dillard said his office has been contacted by the BBC and ABC about covering Denver's election process.

Groups ready to respond

In November 2006, up to 20,000 people left long lines without voting because the electronic pollbook crashed. But Dillard points to successful elections in the last year and the revamped administrative and voting systems.

"There's no such thing as a perfect election," Dillard said. "But lines down the block and around the corner are very unlikely."

The Republican Party and the Obama campaign also will be paying close attention to how voting proceeds in Colorado.

Both sides will deploy scores of supporters, approved in advance by election officials, who will monitor polling places. They've also established Web sites focused on election integrity. And both sides plan to devote additional resources, including lawyers, to keep watch.

If equipment malfunctions and long lines do surface, several groups are preparing to respond.

Colorado Common Cause is setting up a 24-hour call center in Denver where volunteers will provide information and advice to voters, said Executive Director Jenny Flanagan. That number is 866-OURVOTE (687-8683) and is currently staffed.

CNN also is setting up a national hotline for reporting problems. That number is 877-GOCNN08 (462-6608).

Common Cause is partnering with national groups, including Election Protection. In past elections, Common Cause helped direct voters to polling sites with shorter lines.

The group hopes to recruit about 400 volunteers to serve as monitors at polling sites. That's twice as many as it had in 2006.

Flanagan said the 2000 voting debacle in Florida opened many eyes to election problems.

"We need to reform our system so that voters are protected," she said. "That's how we have a strong democratic process."

Comments

  • October 20, 2008

    3:12 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    jrhino writes:

    Im worried about illegal aliens voting in Denver and Aurora. What can the Cities and counties do to make sure this does not happen?

  • October 20, 2008

    6:19 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    EXrepublican writes:

    jrhino,
    Most likely they have been purged from the voting rolls already. just like long time American citizens who simply moved within the state.
    As they have two voter registrations with two addresses and and chose to be Democrats.
    To Coffman obviously these Democrats are trying to be fraudulent, when reality is they simply moved, and thus changed addresses.

    Coffman the SOS not only is going to count the votes in his own race (CD-6) against Hank Eng(D) But with the irregularities he promotes... (including placing Social Security numbers online)
    Coffman is doing everything he can to deliver Colorado back to incompetent gop hands.

    Do Not worry republicans... you can go golfing on election day as Coffman will not only record your votes and discard Democratic votes. but count republican votes twice.

  • October 20, 2008

    6:49 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    T1anda writes:

    Exrepub..soooo, with your attitude, if Obama wins Colorado, then it's three words...Voter- Fraud - ACORN!! Yep! That sounds about right!!

  • October 20, 2008

    6:54 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    T1anda writes:

    Of course if Obama wins Exrepub will rave about how well Colorado's election officials monitored the voting! Bwahahaha!!

  • October 20, 2008

    7:02 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    EXrepublican writes:

    T1anda,
    If Obama wins Colorado and/or Coffamn looses CD-6. Then Coffman can be trusted.

    You mentioned Acorn... did you know an arrest has been made in a voter fraud case?

    http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-...

    it was a republican... sorry not ACORN nor anyone associated with ACORN. criminal GOP.

    How about the voter fraud going on in WV?

    http://www.sundaygazettemail.com/News...

    republicans in charge there too.

  • October 20, 2008

    7:17 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    PonchoVia writes:

    EXrepublican, thanks for the links. According to the second article: "More W.Va. voters say machines are switching votes. In six cases, Democratic votes flipped to GOP"

    I guess when all your policies are just like George Bush's, you have to resort to any means to steal the election!

    Vote Obama/Biden '08

  • October 20, 2008

    7:34 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    EXrepublican writes:

    No problem Poncho,
    another article from WV talks about how those six were just the ones who spoke up. It appears to be a far wider problem than just those six.

    Early voting started here in Colorado, I suspect where their are no paper trails the "switching" of votes to republicans when intent was for the Democrat will become a problem here too.

    I agree neo-con republicans will resort to undermining an election to maintain power. all the while proclaiming how much they love America when in reality they 1) have proven themselves to be incompetent in running government. and 2) cannot stand the test (elections) that makes America great.

    Obama/Biden '08

  • October 20, 2008

    7:55 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    EXrepublican writes:

    T1, ????
    How about that Voter fraud arrest? not laughing now eh?

    voter fraud is no laughing matter no matter what side does it...

    Honest Elections are the standard. we should all expect NOTHING less.

    Coffman are you listening???

  • October 20, 2008

    7:55 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Gonzopozo writes:

    " I am not a crook !!!!"

  • October 20, 2008

    8:12 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    T1anda writes:

    ACORN (Obama's buddies)is being investigated for voter fraud in 7 or more states. I am sure you blind Obamabots think they are a fine,upstanding organization. Bwahahaha!! Yep I am still laughing!

  • October 20, 2008

    9:09 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    oofda writes:

    ex and poncho you two are a joke, who hired you two to blog garbage on every article.

  • October 20, 2008

    10:55 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    rickg19611 writes:

    ROFLMAO!

    ACORN has been proven to have submitted more than 75,000 fraudulent voter registrations. ACORN even admits it, and blames their "workers". Countless videos of ACORN workers admitting they commit fraud as a normal course of action has been seen by every American.

    Response of the low IQ crowd supporting Democrats....... silence.

    Meanwhile, one Republican is accused in LA of having a faulty registration.

    Response of the low IQ crowd supporting Democrats..... HYSTERIA!!!!

    No wonder these Democrat clowns are not taken seriously by ANYONE with an IQ above 12.

  • October 20, 2008

    11:02 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    PonchoVia writes:

    For those of you who have bought into the fear rhetoric of the Republican campaign, let's look at the facts. This illustrates the irrational fear that the McCain campaign is trying to generate. Unfortunately, many of you eat it up:

    McCain says ACORN is committing voter fraud that could be "destroying the fabric of democracy"!

    But, a nonpartisan report determined that ""[i]t is more likely that an individual will be struck by lightning than he will impersonate another voter at the polls"

    Determine how to vote based on irrational fear? Thanks but no thanks.

    See the whole article here:
    http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news...

    Vote Obama/Biden '08

  • October 20, 2008

    11:09 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    INC writes:

    rickg19611,
    what you forget to mention is ACORN is REQUIRED to submit ALL registrations. even the obvious fraudulent ones...

    the ONLY arrests so far are republicans...

    http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-...

    oofda, I post for free. as someone has to debunk republican lies and propaganda...

  • October 20, 2008

    11:20 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    PonchoVia writes:

    Do anti-ACORN fear mongers know the difference between 'voter fraud' and 'voter registration fraud'? It's an important distinction.

    In the largest ACORN prosecution to date it was found that workers for ACORN were just trying to make money without working, and NOT plotting voter fraud. That is to say, there was never any intent to actually place votes based on the faulty registrations:

    "Dan Satterberg, the Republican prosecuting attorney in King County, Wash., where the largest ACORN case to date was prosecuted, said that the indicted ACORN employees were shirking responsibility, not plotting election fraud." Source: http://www.newsweek.com/id/164722/page/2

    Don't vote based on irrational fear created by the McCain campaign.

    Vote Obama/Biden '08

  • October 20, 2008

    11:29 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    PonchoVia writes:

    oofda, I'm not paid to comment here. I just enjoy razzing the McCain supporters.

    I'm careful now to not refer to McCain supporters as Republicans, because nowadays so many Republicans are jumping ship from McCain's campaign. More and more Republicans disagree with McCain's extremely negative attacks, they're really starting to question his judgment in picking such an inexperienced and divisive person for VP, and McCain has not shown how he's different from George W. Bush in any way. Indeed, McCain is McSame.

    Vote Obama/Biden '08

  • October 20, 2008

    4:25 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    VoiceOfTheRockies writes:

    I am NOT an Obama supporter. However some part of me hopes that he wins so people can realize just how bad things can really get. Enjoy your freedom while you have it. Obama the socialist will be taking more of it from you real soon. Think I am kidding? I wish I was and I hope I am wrong.

    - Inexperienced Kennedy gets elected; Cuban Missile Crisis.
    - Clinton gets a BJ in office; 911 is planned.
    - Economy crashes; Democrats control congress.

    McCain wants to protect the American people. Think before you vote Colorado. Think before you vote...

  • October 20, 2008

    4:44 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Reason writes:

    We all know that we need to protect Mickey Mouse's opportunity to vote for Obama, this is America, right?

  • October 20, 2008

    5:19 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    coarizona writes:

    I will never trust the count or results of this election because of the actions of ACORN and their supporters.