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Latest developments on Colorado voting issues

By Myung Oak Kim, Rocky Mountain News (Contact), Kevin Vaughan, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published October 28, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Here are latest developments in state voting issues:

* A senior federal judge may decide Wednesday whether thousands of registered voters were improperly removed from the rolls.

Colorado Common Cause, Mia Familia Education Fund and the Service Employees International Union all sued Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman, alleging he violated federal law when he invalidated more than 14,000 voter registrations.

Coffman, a Republican, contended he followed the law in directing the removal of registrations for people who died, moved, were convicted of a felony or signed up to vote more than once.

* The office of state Attorney General John Suthers on Monday affirmed Secretary of State Coffman's policy about the check box on voter registration forms.

Applicants without a driver's license or state ID are supposed to check a box indicating that, and then supply at least the last four digits of their Social Security number.

If people fail to check the box, their application is supposed to be listed as incomplete - even if they supplied the required information. Those who don't fix the problem can cast a provisional ballot on Election Day. Provisional ballots require additional ID to be accepted and are added to the count after Election Day.

Coffman's ruling affects about 5,000 people. He has been criticized for his policy, but the AG's office said the rules are necessary to comply with the law. Suthers is a Republican.

* The state Republican Party last week said it wanted county clerks to check about 15,000 voter files to remove people who have registered more than once. The secretary of state's office said it is too close to the election to remove duplicate files.

* The Fair Elections Legal Network wants El Paso County Clerk Bob Balink, a Republican, to ensure that there are enough paper ballots for Election Day.

The group, based in Washington, D.C., believes the county had ordered ballots for less than half of all voters and does not appear to be accounting for inactive voters.

The network said county officials are prepared to print more ballot, but it wants the ballots printed beforehand.

Balink said he has enough ballots.

Comments

  • October 28, 2008

    8:16 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    rwmorrisonjr writes:

    If you don't follow the rules, you don't get to play in the pool. Its a simple form to use, and the SoS has to follow and enforce the voting laws. I'm getting tired of all the tactics being used by both sides to try and inflate the rolls or eliminate people from them. The laws are non-discriminatory and easy to follow, so quit griping about them.

    Just imagine what kind of coverage this would receive if Ken Gordon was SoS and the voters were potential Republicans. I can hear the crickets chirping now...

  • October 28, 2008

    10:54 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    daRock writes:

    The check box in question also appears on provisional ballot application. Anyone who wants their provisional ballot to qualify should read and understand this provision.