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Deluge of requests slows mail ballots

By Myung Oak Kim, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published October 21, 2008 at 12:29 p.m.
Updated October 21, 2008 at 11:54 p.m.

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Workers process ballots at Denver election headquarters Tuesday. The city received "an unprecedented number" of requests.

Photo by Wes Pope / The Rocky

Workers process ballots at Denver election headquarters Tuesday. The city received "an unprecedented number" of requests.

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Tens of thousands of mail ballots have been delayed in reaching voters because of backlogs at election offices and printing companies.

Several counties, including Adams, Douglas, Arapahoe and Denver, have been flooded in the last few weeks with mail ballot requests. Other counties, like Jefferson and Larimer, are less stressed because most of their applications came in months ago.

Adams County has put its entire elections staff on mandatory 12-hour shifts and moved employees from other departments to work overtime processing forms, said Clerk and Recorder Karen Long.

Her office has been receiving up to 11,000 new mail ballot requests on some days. And that's on top of mountains of voter registration forms that came in just before the Oct. 6 deadline.

"We are just covered up in these applications," Long said. "They are still coming in. It is incredible."

Long said her office has ordered a batch of 15,000 ballots from an Aurora printer that will be shipped to the post office by Friday. And there's still thousands more to process.

"It's a huge nightmare," she said. "We are doing everything we can humanly do to handle this."

So far, more than 1.5 million voters statewide have applied for mail ballots.

The last-minute surge in requests is taxing an election process that already is under intense strain. Early voting began Monday and poll worker recruitment and training is ongoing.

Mail ballots don't go out quickly in large counties. That's because election officials have to order ballots from a printer, who then have to ship the ballots to a Colorado postal facility to be sent out.

Arapahoe County Clerk and Recorder Nancy Doty said her printer in California is backlogged on mail ballots. She said a batch of 15,000 ballots was supposed to be delivered to the post office Monday, but won't get there until Friday.

Denver is experiencing a similar situation.

About 23,000 ballots requested in recent weeks will reach the mail facility Friday, officials said. Next week, the clerk's office will mail ballots daily directly from election headquarters.

Denver Clerk and Recorder Stephanie O'Malley issued a plea for patience Tuesday. She said her staff has received more than 180,000 applications - "an unprecedented number." She asked voters worried about their mail ballots to wait a while longer before trying to vote another way.

"I understand the heightened interest in this election, but I respectfully ask the voters of the city of Denver to please be patient and to give their mail-in ballots a chance to get to them," O'Malley said.

Registered voters have until Oct. 28 to request a mail ballot to be sent to their home.

Frequently asked questions about mail voting

Is it too late to get a mail ballot?

No. As long as you are registered to vote, you can obtain a mail ballot application from the Colorado secretary of state's office or your county clerk's office. A mail ballot will be sent to your home if the application is received by Oct. 28. If you want to pick one up in person, you may do so until Oct. 31.

I requested a mail ballot but haven't received it. What should I do?

Check your voter file at govotecolorado.com by clicking on "verify your voter registration information" or call 303-894-2200. Both methods will tell you if you're listed as a mail voter and when the ballot was sent out. Remember that mail ballots are sent out by county clerks in the order in which they were requested.

May I drop off my mail ballot at the early voting sites?

In many cases, you may do this. Check with your county clerk's office.

Do I have to pay the postage?

Yes. In Denver, it's $1.17.

I requested a mail ballot but can I change my mind and vote at the polls?

Yes. You can hand in your mail ballot at your county clerk's office and then cast a regular ballot during early voting or on Election Day. Or you can cast a provisional ballot at early voting sites. Provisional ballots require additional ID to be accepted and won't be added to the count until after Election Day.

More information:Go to govotecolorado.com or call 303-894-2200.

Comments

  • October 21, 2008

    12:38 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Cowboy63 writes:

    I understand ACORN already ordered 100,000 extra mail in ballots and said, "just leave the names blank... we'll fill them in as we go along".

  • October 21, 2008

    12:53 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Scott writes:

    Sounds like Denver is gearing up for yet another monumental Charlie Foxtrot of an election!

    Cowboy, I'm sure ACORN will be running the "graveyard" mail-in voting. ;-)

    Scott

  • October 21, 2008

    2:05 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    jbowen43 writes:

    ACORN may be the republicans latest bogeyman, but the facts are they were defrauded by crooked employees who completed bogus registrations in order to get paid for not working. It was ACORN that flagged these bogus registrations and gave them to the proper authorities for appropriate handling. To date no one has charged them with wrong doing. It is the Bush Justice Department where the criminal activity is occurring and for whom additional prison capacity must be built. Each year they have tried to influence elections in favor of their bosses at the Republican National Committee.

  • October 21, 2008

    2:13 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    jbowen43 writes:

    McCain Employing GOP Operative Accused of Voter Registration Fraud
    http://www.truthout.org/102108K
    Sam Stein, The Huffington Post: "John McCain's campaign has directed $175,000 to the firm of a Republican operative accused of massive voter registration fraud in several states. According to campaign finance records, a joint committee of the McCain-Palin campaign, the RNC and the California Republican Party, made a $175,000 payment to the group Lincoln Strategy in June for purposes of 'registering voters.' The managing partner of that firm is Nathan Sproul, a renowned GOP operative who has been investigated on multiple occasions for suppressing Democratic voter turnout, throwing away registration forms and even, once, spearheading efforts to get Ralph Nader on ballots so as to hinder the Democratic ticket."

  • October 21, 2008

    2:28 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    psu96 writes:

    jbowen

    the posters know what ACORN is about they are desperate and deperate measures start to take place...don't let the facts get in your way Scott and Cowboy keep up with the lies...hows that working out for ya?

  • October 21, 2008

    2:33 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    LingLingfor_prez writes:

    I try and keep an open mind when it comes to sources, but The Huffington Post? Might as well be Socialist Weekly.

  • October 21, 2008

    2:57 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    UNV_ME writes:

    They must understand the publics need to want to vote this election. The republican reign of terror is almost to an end.

    Obama/Biden '08

  • October 21, 2008

    3:57 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    freemarketworks writes:

    This article may be missing some critical details. Perhaps it should read "180,000 fraudulent applications received from ACORN. Likewise, there are 23,000 ballots that ACORN volunteers have already filled-out and simply need signatures for."

    Also, I would hardly call ACORN the Republican’s latest bogeyman. The Republicans latest "scrawny liberal parasites" would be a much more descriptive term for ACORN.

  • October 21, 2008

    4:17 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Cowboy63 writes:

    psu96 writes: "the posters know what ACORN is about they are desperate and deperate measures start to take place..."

    We know "what ACORN is about".

    Haven't you seen the interviews with students laughing about being chased down the street by ACORN workers trying to sign them up for the 70th time, or the homeless guys being paid in cigarettes and McNuggets to keep filling out apps?

    Do a google search under "ACORN fraud" and see how many hits you get.

  • October 21, 2008

    4:29 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    UNV_ME writes:

    So when Obama wins you'll be using the ACORN argument?

    Just disregard the fact that the Republican ticket is a joke.

  • October 21, 2008

    4:52 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    xeeian writes:

    If one is conducting a voter registration drive, isn't it illegal NOT to deliver all of the registrations that were filled out to county clerk?

    That's what:

    http://www.elections.colorado.gov/WWW...

    seems to say.

    Also, isn't it the County Clerks and only the County Clerks job to figure out what is a valid registration and what isn't?

    This is America and there are people named Mickey Mouse.

  • October 21, 2008

    5:28 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    T1anda writes:

    ACORN is funded by taxpayers!! They are supposed to be a bi-partisan organization. Bwahahahaha!!! I have watched video after video of ACORN speakers orally pummeling the GOP.

    Yes, if Obama wins, the fraudulent ACORN will be one of many reasons for Obama's bogus victory!

    ACORN also bullied banks into giving home loans to unqualified buyers they are part of the economic mess we are in today!!

    Obama LUV's ACORN just like he LUV's his anti-American wife,pastor,Bill Ayers,Bernadette Dhorn, Rezco on and on and on......

  • October 22, 2008

    7:24 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    Buffs writes:

    PSU96,

    So are you saying the Huffington story is false and this never happened?

  • October 22, 2008

    12:37 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Sal writes:

    McCain used to be a big fan of ACORN. In fact, he was the keynote speaker at one of their rallies in Miami in 2006.

    You can check out the video of him saying how much he liked them at the link below.

    http://news.aol.com/political-machine...

  • October 22, 2008

    7:52 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    starfish40 writes:

    Up to 11,000 requests per day; 15,000 ballots ordered; could there be a problem coming?