'Missing' Denver mail ballots were never sent by vendor
By Myung Oak Kim, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)
Published October 24, 2008 at 8:02 p.m.
Updated October 25, 2008 at 1:21 p.m.
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Denver election officials were breathing a little easier Saturday after they determined that 11,000 mail-in ballots they feared were missing were actually never sent by a vendor.
The U.S. Postal Service said Friday afternoon that its Denver mail processing facility received 10,364 ballots on Oct. 16 and delivered them within a couple days.
But the California printing company hired by Denver Elections said it delivered 21,450 ballots to the postal facility on that date.
The discrepancy prompted Denver Election Director Michael Scarpello to ask Sequoia Voting Systems to give him paperwork to prove that the Porterville, Calif., printing plant shipped the ballots.
"Certainly we're concerned and we're wanting to get to the bottom of it," Scarpello said Friday night. "I don't think we've seen overwhelming evidence to prove one theory or the other.
"My advice to people would be to hang tight for another couple of days."
That advice bore out on Saturday, when Denver Clerk and Recorder Stephanie O'Malley said the ballots in question were never prepared by the vendor because of a technical problem with a data file.
Those remaining ballots from the shipment are being prepared over the weekend and will arrive at the U.S. Postal Service's general mail facility on Monday, O'Malley said in a statement.
“We take this matter very seriously and want Denver voters to know that no one will be disenfranchised by this vendor error,” O’Malley said.
The deadline for mail ballot applications is Tuesday; the last ballots sent from the Elections Division will go out that night. Voters should see the ballots from the affected shipment by midweek, according to Alton Dillard, spokesman for the Clerk and Recorder's office.
Dillard said that election officials were on the phone with Sequoia officials Friday night into Saturday. "Our thing is when you find things like this happen, we go into solution mode. We spent probably the last day figuring out what was going on." By Saturday morning, Dillard said Sequoia found the problem, and "is accepting 100 percent of the blame in this situation."
Michelle Shafer, a spokeswoman for Sequoia, said in a statement, "Sequoia made an unfortunate mistake with a portion of Denver's absentee ballots that we produced and mailed. We are extremely regretful of this error and take full responsibility for it. We are working diligently this weekend on this matter and will have all of the Denver ballots in the mail this Monday."
In addition to the large batches of mail ballots prepared by Sequoia, the Elections Division has been sending small batches of ballots out daily after receiving applications.
The news comes amid mounting complaints by Denver voters who had yet to receive their ballots as of Friday despite computer tracking records that say the ballots were sent on Oct. 15.
Hugh Duval, 85, of southeast Denver, is one of these voters. He said he's been frustrated and worried about not getting his and his wife's ballots.
"It's kind of worn me down thinking I won't be able to vote," Duval said. "This is a mess."
The problem arose over a batch of ballots that were supposed to have been dropped off on Oct. 15 at the Denver General Mail Facility at 7500 E. 53rd Place.
A spokesperson for Sequoia could not be reached for comment.
Postal Service spokesman Al DeSarro said Friday that his office has delivered all ballots they received.
Scarpello said he is certain that his office sent the correct number of voter files to the printer and the problem appears to be either at the printer or at the post office.
Denver elections workers and other metro area elections offices have been swamped in the last month processing tens of thousands of voter registration forms and mail ballot applications.
More than 180,000 Denver voters have requested mail ballots.
A record 1.5 million voters statewide have requested to vote by mail and that number keeps growing. Voters have until Oct. 28 to request a mail ballot.
Mail voting began Oct. 6. The largest wave of ballots were sent to voters around Oct. 8 and clerks have since been sending more ballots in response to additional requests.
In large counties like Denver, clerks send computer files of voter information to printing companies, either in Colorado or out-of-state. Several of the largest counties use Sequoia's California plant. The printer prepares the ballots and ships them to postal service processing facilities in Colorado for distribution.
County clerks save money on postage by sending mail ballots in large batches.
When early voting began statewide on Oct. 20, many voters showed at Denver polling places complaining about not receiving their mail ballots. County clerks have been making public pleas for patience.
Tom Auclair of the Rocky contributed to this story
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October 24, 2008
8:20 p.m.
Suggest removal
cedykeman1 writes:
like we didn't see this coming
October 24, 2008
8:22 p.m.
Suggest removal
Over_Nobama writes:
it must be an evil republican plan
October 24, 2008
9:30 p.m.
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dorfs writes:
Sounds like some kind on nut falling from an oak tree!
October 24, 2008
9:32 p.m.
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FCZ writes:
ACORN at work?
Mail in ballots and 'motor voter' make fraud easy.
October 24, 2008
9:34 p.m.
Suggest removal
NeilT writes:
Maybe, Nobama, but it would be individual Republicans, not the whole group. It's not like this would be Sequoia's first controversy...
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sequoia_...
It would help if all their executives were not major Republican donors. That is a serious conflict of interest.
At least we have one of the good Republicans that will get to the bottom of this. Mike Coffman decertified their machines (among others) last year. He respects the voters and his position. He has my support for any future office (hint).
http://www.bradblog.com/?p=5451
October 24, 2008
9:44 p.m.
Suggest removal
windskull writes:
Where is the POSTMASTER GENERAL this certainly is a very serious issue in their ultimate charge and for that matter what IDIOT decided California should be doing anything with Colorado`s damn ballots in the first place?
October 24, 2008
9:57 p.m.
Suggest removal
p_myers661 writes:
I'm one of the first to worry about the security of the ballot. This doesn't look like too much of a problem to check. I'd suggest that people immediately order replacement ballots. That will invalidate any ballot already sent and get a new ballot. The post office or some entity has a list of the addresses that the ballots were sent to. Simple comparison will determine what happened.
Don't worry about vote fraud. If it's planned and coordinated, no one is going to catch it before it happensand it won't amount to much if it isn't planned it won't amount to much.
I also feel much better. When I voted, there were four inch high letters on all the doors, "ID Required to Vote." Our country is safe, from everything except liberals. (sarcasm/mostly.)
October 24, 2008
11:24 p.m.
Suggest removal
IndependentSpirit writes:
That's why I always vote in person. It only took me 5 minutes to vote early today in Broomfield. No line what's so ever.
October 24, 2008
11:27 p.m.
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Creative_N_Denver writes:
Why do you assume anything? Mistakes happen, computers are ran by humans- I got mine a bit ago but I am still hoping this election will go smoothly. I know however, the amount of mail that is required for an elections is huge~ Postal Service can't even get a mailer across three towns in 10 days! So I am not surprised by this~
October 24, 2008
11:31 p.m.
Suggest removal
EXrepublican writes:
that would seem to be 11,000 votes for McSame... without actual voters.
October 24, 2008
11:33 p.m.
Suggest removal
jrhino writes:
Hey Scarpello, Always Buy Colorado.
October 24, 2008
11:38 p.m.
Suggest removal
CyberHostage writes:
Why does everything have to be attributed to a sinister plot? I just recently saw the episode again where Newman stashed sacks of mail in Seinfeld's storage locker. Maybe we have a similar situation going on. I'm sure they'll turn up eventually.
October 24, 2008
11:50 p.m.
Suggest removal
BenchBoss writes:
CyberHostage: Don't forget the episode where Newman refused to deliver the mail because it was raining. Classic.
October 25, 2008
12:09 a.m.
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CyberHostage writes:
Good point BenchBoss. Thanks. People need to lighten up. It's not like the fate of the free world may be riding on these ballots.
October 25, 2008
12:23 a.m.
Suggest removal
clyde writes:
I'm sure they'll turn up. Nothing to see here.
This is absolutely common Chicago practice. Confuse the issue until the elections are over, then nobody can challenge. For those of you that think the Bush administration is corrupt, You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet. Hold on to your hat, because the roller coaster has not even left the gate yet.
October 25, 2008
5:55 a.m.
Suggest removal
COLibertarian writes:
EXrepublican writes:
that would seem to be 11,000 votes for McSame... without actual voters.
-----------------------------------------------------
So Ex are you on board with Ohio's explanation of over 200K voter registration issues out of 600k registrations? Clerical errors? In the end this truly may be the true cause. But I think I would be putting out a few pink slips to clerks when a third of the problems are due to clerical errors.
It would be very interesting to analyse the numbers that do not get their ballot by party affilliation. If there were a significant discrepency, then yes there would be cause to question fraud. Otherwise it seems like it is just business as usual for government. We complain about the problems but then we vote them in with more power than when they first scre&wed up......
October 25, 2008
8:07 a.m.
Suggest removal
ColoradoDave writes:
Why are ballots printed by a private company at all. There are government presses. Privatization has gone too far when private firms are responsible for our elections.
October 25, 2008
8:47 a.m.
Suggest removal
ghoax writes:
try the SW corner of 8th and Santa fe.
October 25, 2008
8:54 a.m.
Suggest removal
RegLib writes:
ColoradoDave: Because this is still, for another couple of months, the Age of Bush in which *everything* is privatized. Never let the nasty old government, representing you and me and accountable to you and me, do something that a private company, preferably run by Bush friends or campaign contributors, can do for an obscene profit.
October 25, 2008
9:09 a.m.
Suggest removal
jbowen43 writes:
How many McCain backers own Sequoia?
October 25, 2008
9:28 a.m.
Suggest removal
LOUIE writes:
Already? Jesus, whose the next in power, do I really need to vote?
October 25, 2008
9:53 a.m.
Suggest removal
LOUIE writes:
Folks, I'd take a #2 pencil, firmly impressed upon paper, before I accept the modern voting process; makes you wonder if eletronic balloting replacing the lever was a good idea. Personally, I enjoy the mechanical lever, counting of the cards, verses the eletronic micro chip. Sharply and crisply, punching threw the paper with a crisp clearence of say a 1/4 inch?. Chads are more honest than computer, mechanical voting is still the premium over computer, it registers with more honesty. Overseas ballots, provential ballots, electronic computers, if it breaks down, or there is a possible corruption of software; folks, there was something to be said of the mechanical voting machine/booth that was that it invoked trust. Punch through a computer card, you were done. Cards counted. I don't know why, but I still don't trust computers to be above the efficent machine in acurate ability to clearly show a voter preference. Honesty: to rely upon the honor of others.
October 25, 2008
9:53 a.m.
Suggest removal
mytwosense writes:
CyberHostage writes: "Why does everything have to be attributed to a sinister plot?"
Because Sequoia Voting Systems is no stranger to controversy. They were right smack in the middle of a lot of the BS that went down in Florida back in 2000.
October 25, 2008
9:58 a.m.
Suggest removal
mytwosense writes:
Why do we continue to privatize our election process? Why do we hire the same contractors who continue to screw up? All this does is allow public officials to assign blame to a private company. But if it's the direct responsibility of an elected or appointed official, the people have a lot more say in holding them accountable. I'm tired of our tax dollars being given away to corrupt or incompetent companies to perform jobs that used to be handled by the government. From voting to military services to prison management.
October 25, 2008
10:04 a.m.
Suggest removal
Speak writes:
"Certainly we're concerned and we're wanting to get to the bottom of it," Scarpello said Friday night. "I don't think we've seen overwhelming evidence to prove one theory or the other.
Try rounding up ACORN
NOBamas plane went over the Atlantic and the Pacific Ocean before it touched down in Hawaii………Get to the bottom of those Oceans.
"My advice to people would be to hang tight for another couple of days."
At least until November 5th 2008.........
NOBama America is only for sale with you in office!
October 25, 2008
10:07 a.m.
Suggest removal
LOUIE writes:
Second problem, "...clerks sent voters private information to private companies...' oh there went your identity! What private information we give the government, should remain with the government. The more entities you farm it out to, more likely the government places that person at risk. You know who jeapordized you America? Private entities that recieved or solicted your private information. Government handling of private information is terrible. It downsized personel, in favor of computers and outsourcing your private information to private companies. Not good.
October 25, 2008
11:07 a.m.
Suggest removal
McGowdog writes:
Sounds like the exact number of McCain/Palin votes that would have been there.
This state may be going blue, but not my neighborhood. It's red I'll see my McCain/Palin peeps when I go vote in person on Tuesday.
A streak of over 68 years was broken with the Obama/Biden ticket having absolutely NO military experience. You liberal whackos have done nothing to appreciate the McCain/Palin ticket but seek to try to destroy McCain's service in the Navy. You say stuff like, "Being a POW doesn't make you a war hero".
You're scumbags. At least McCain served and did the best he could and still does today. He just wasn't a very good pilot!
October 25, 2008
11:10 a.m.
Suggest removal
phoneman writes:
2 years ago, I mailed a letter from the Littleton Main post office going to a business in Broomfield. It took 26 days to reach it's destination. Letters that I know should be delivered to me never show up - plus, I'm constantly getting other peoples mail. IMHO, the Denver area post offices stink.
October 25, 2008
11:25 a.m.
Suggest removal
snow writes:
Here is proof people who weren't supposed to vote did, Obama's own workers in Ohio, note they did vote, then asked afterward to have their bogus votes pulled when they thought of being caught, they should be prosecuted. Story:http://www.nypost.com/seven/102...
October 25, 2008
11:26 a.m.
Suggest removal
COLibertarian writes:
MTS I agree with you on why we do the same things over and over again. I think it is possible for private contracts to be successful for government. We (yes I do at times and you did above) immediately go to the private companies and contracts and blame them. YES blame has to be attributed to them but EQUAL or even more blame needs to be assigned to the government officials for not managing the contract.
A contract is just as inept, corrupt as the management of that contract will allow. This is not just subject to Government contracts but for Private and Business contracts with vendors. Ultimate responsibility is laid at the feet of the management.
With this said I am not supporting the contracts or contractors. If we truly want to fix our problems we must first understand the workings and who is ultimately responsible.
October 25, 2008
11:32 a.m.
Suggest removal
snow writes:
Opps working like to Obama workers voter fraud http://www.nypost.com/seven/10252008/...
October 25, 2008
11:54 a.m.
Suggest removal
GVG17 writes:
The first time I voted, I went to a polling place and voted there because I wanted the experience. Ever since then, I have done absentee/mail-in ballot because it gives me the time to research and think about my decisions.
However, I NEVER put my finished ballot back in the mail. I turn it in by hand. I will trust the post office with anything else, but NOT my vote.
October 25, 2008
12:04 p.m.
Suggest removal
PaleoConservative writes:
EXrepublican writes:
"that would seem to be 11,000 votes for McSame... without actual voters."
It turns out that the ballots were never even shipped:
http://www.9news.com/news/article.asp...
Ouch, EXrepublican. That's going to leave a mark!
October 25, 2008
1:10 p.m.
Suggest removal
NeilT writes:
I'd like for Mike Coffman to take possession of these ballots and compare them to the list and check their party affiliation.
I trust Coffman, even though he is a Republican. This way, when he releases the count showing a huge number of Democrat ballots were not prepared and mailed, at least it's a Republican breaking the news to you righties.
October 25, 2008
2:30 p.m.
Suggest removal
TDC001 writes:
It is just as bad in Douglas County. I was suppose to get a mail in ballot that was mailed out 10/09. I was told by the County Clerk that all those mailed on that day came back marked "undeliverable". So, they are sitting on those ballots until each voter calls in and reconfirms their address. (Mine was correct.) They are not going to automatically resend the ballots. I still haven't gotten mine and am hoping for the best.
How did this happen? The county clerk blames the post office and the post office is accountable to no one.
If you exclude large parts of the populace from voting...you do not have a democracy.
October 25, 2008
4:08 p.m.
Suggest removal
watcher1 writes:
Printed in California? I thought it had been outsourced to India or Mexico.
Aren't there printing companies in Colorado that could have been used...you know, support LOCAL jobs?
October 25, 2008
4:49 p.m.
Suggest removal
mytwosense writes:
They've now updated the story with a quote from Sequoia apologizing for the fiasco and claiming "full responsibility." Yeah, well what good does that do us? Can we fire them? No, we can't. And obviously the government isn't firing this incompetent or worse contractor since they kept them on after all the crap they pulled in Florida!
CoLib, this is exactly what I was talking about regarding the danger of privatizing some of our most important processes. It's just one extra layer added that puts citizens further away from holding the government accountable.
And it's not even saving us money or time.
October 25, 2008
5:02 p.m.
Suggest removal
observer writes:
This has happened to my wife and I. We went today to vote saying that we hadn't received our mail-in ballot. We requested one by mail over two weeks ago. They were telling us to be patient. I said no, we are going to vote today. What you can do and have a right to do is to vote using a "Provisional ballot". You will fill out information regarding your current address and personal information. They will give you a tracking number and a number to call to see that your provisional vote is valid. This is determined by verifying that you don't end up voting twice.
I still wonder when our votes will be counted. After the election?
This is too much!!!
October 25, 2008
5:47 p.m.
Suggest removal
FCZ writes:
Smartmatic, owner of Sequoia Voting Systems, is secretly controlled by Hugo Chavez of Venezuela the Miami Herald reports.
Venezuelan connections have haunted the company whose machines have been plagued with problems in U.S. elections.
When the Chicago City Council asked Sequoia executive Jack Blaine in April about problems in that city's voting, he said some Venezuelans had provided technical support ...
The Chicago Board of Election Commissioners is withholding further payment to Sequoia until after the Nov. 7 election.
The Smartmatic investigation is being conducted by the Treasury-led Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, CFIUS – which determines whether deals involving foreign investors compromise national security.
Determining whether there really is a hidden connection to Chávez or anyone in his government is difficult because of Smartmatic's complex, though legal, corporate structure, reports the Miami Herald.
http://www.worldnetdaily.com/news/art...
October 25, 2008
8:42 p.m.
Suggest removal
Speak writes:
"Republican breaking the news"
I am on board with that .........I also would like a Dem there to immediately start passing out the welfare check.
October 25, 2008
8:58 p.m.
Suggest removal
RJS07 writes:
Well if Hugo owns the company, you can probably scratch off Republican involvement there...and I think, in Florida, no matter how many times the NY Times and other liberal media recounted, the result was still the same. Gore lost.
October 25, 2008
10:07 p.m.
Suggest removal
easy writes:
Over_Nobama ... what a sad sack you are.
I bet when a little kid in your neighborhood learns to ride his bike you yell, "Yeah, but now when you fall you'll probably break your leg!!"
Take your negativity and hike out into the backcountry and stay there. How pathetic is your life?
How sad.
October 26, 2008
5:31 a.m.
Suggest removal
yaakovwatkins writes:
You Democrats make me sick. Denver is a chronically Democratic town. It has Congressional district one which has been a safe Democratic district since 1970. Mayors Webb, Pena, and Hickenlooper are registered Democrats.
There were voting problems with the last election which was the reason we switched to an elected clerk. There is no evidence to suggest that Omalley is doing anything other than her best to get these the ballots to the voters.
Yet as soon as a Democrat screws up an administrative job, you blame the Republicans. If Bush, Cheney and Rove were as competent as you guys assume they are, they could use their evil power to hypnotize President Ahmadinejad of Iran, Kim Il-Sung of North Korea and all of OPEC to do their bidding. Gas prices would be 25 cents a gallon, the stock market would be 25,000 and we would have made Bush President for life.
But they aren't that powerful. Bush is leaving office in disgrace. the Democrats have avoided doing anything at all, and Obama is proving that Lincoln was correct. You can fool some of the people all of the time.
October 26, 2008
7:25 a.m.
Suggest removal
jh49 writes:
This shouldn't have come down to the wire like it did. Denver should have been on top of it earlier. 11,000 missing ballots is a pretty big issue.
October 26, 2008
8:16 a.m.
Suggest removal
EXrepublican writes:
COLib, PaleoCon,
I made the comment before the ballots were found to have not even been printed.
Sequoia is notorious for having serious problems with their machines and equipment.
For years I worked to suppress voting by Democrats. even now Just by listening to republicans and Democrats. Democrats Want everyone to vote in fair elections. Whereas republicans hardly mention getting out to vote and bring up non issues like Acorn.
republicans wrote laws to ensure they can rig elections if the election does not go their way fairly.
I realized I was worse than stalin, mao and castro... as they are honest about suppressing and (not) counting votes...republicans neo-cons never make the connection. or just how evil it is to hijack elections just to retain power.
I am glad the ballots were found. and I am glad they will go to people to vote the way they wish.
I for one have early voted, and encourage everyone to do so...
Obama/Biden '08
October 26, 2008
8:59 a.m.
Suggest removal
jbowen43 writes:
I want to hear it again about how private enterprise can do it better than government. One of the best reasons for change is to undo all this privatizing.
October 26, 2008
10:55 a.m.
Suggest removal
mytwosense writes:
RJS07 writes: "Well if Hugo owns the company, you can probably scratch off Republican involvement there..."
Reading this comment makes me think of the game "Telephone" where a message travels from person to person until the original message is barely recognizable.
The article in question cited Sequoia's outsourcing some tech support to Venezulans.
The person who posted that article translated this as Hugo Chavez "secretly controlling" Sequoia.
Then you, RJS07, interpreted this as Chavez "owning" Sequoia.
Do you honestly believe George Bush would allow a Hugo Chavez-owned or controlled company to play such a huge role in the US voting process? We're talking about the man who publicly called Bush a drunk!
But I'll tell you, I've tried to research just who owns this company, and one thing is for sure: they've gone to incredible lengths to make this as complicated as possible. On the outset, it looks like the parent company that founded it was owned by Venezelans, but it's also been connected to Netherlands ownership, Curacao ownership, and even former Unisys executives. Supposedly, it's owned by "American management" now.
Bottom line, we need to stop outsourcing our election processes to private companies, much less international or foreign-owned companies.
.