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Colorado elections director resigns amid inquiry

By Myung Oak Kim, Rocky Mountain News (Contact)

Published September 6, 2008 at 12:05 a.m.

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Holly Lowder, former state elections director, lives in The Boulevard, 150 W. Ninth Ave.

Photo by Judy Dehaas / The Rocky

Holly Lowder, former state elections director, lives in The Boulevard, 150 W. Ninth Ave.

Lowder, right, is questioned by Rocky reporter.

Lowder, right, is questioned by Rocky reporter.

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The abrupt resignation Thursday of a top elections official at the secretary of state's office happened in the midst of a watchdog group's investigation into her relationship with a local businessman who has contracts with that office.

Holly Lowder, 66, resigned from her post as elections director two months before what is expected to be one of the biggest elections in recent Colorado history. She held that job since 2006. Before that, Lowder served as Alamosa County clerk for about 25 years.

Colorado Ethics Watch had been pursuing documents from the state regarding Lowder's ties to John Paulsen.

Paulsen, 59, operates a software company called LEDS, LLC from his home in Castle Rock, records show. LEDS has installed voter databases in more than 30 counties and recently got two contracts worth almost $184,000 with the secretary of state's office for data work related to the current election season.

Records show that Lowder recently lived at a Cherokee Street home in Denver that is owned by Paulsen.

Chantell Taylor, director of Ethics Watch, called Lowder's resignation "no coincidence."

"It is entirely unbelievable that Ms. Lowder just happened to choose to retire - abruptly and without transitioning her successor - just months away from a major election and on the day Ethics Watch's (open records request) responses are due relating to an investigation of Mr. Paulsen's relationship with the secretary of state's office," she said.

Lowder told the Rocky Mountain News Friday that she has known Paulsen for 15 years, but she denied any conflict of interest in her position with the state. She also denied helping Paulsen get contracts with her agency.

"Absolutely not," Lowder replied to a question about helping Paulsen get government work.

'I did not resign'

When asked why she resigned, she said "I retired. I did not resign."

Paulsen did not return numerous phone calls and e-mails seeking comment.

One of his earliest government contracts was with Alamosa County during Lowder's term as clerk. The county bought Paulsen's voter database and also uses his system for all its electronic property records.

Alamosa County has paid more than $5,000 per year to LEDS to maintain the voter database, Clerk Melanie Woodward said. Other counties using the LEDS system have paid annual fees as well.

Claudia Kuhns, a local voting activist, said Paulsen was a subcontractor on the original state contract with Accenture to develop a new state voter registration database known as SCORE. The state cancelled that contract in 2005 and then hired Saber Corp. to develop the system, which was rolled out to all the counties earlier this year. Paulsen is listed as "key personnel" with the SCORE team.

Richard Coolidge, spokesman for the secretary of state's office, said Lowder was not involved with the contracts that Paulsen received from that office.

As elections director, Lowder was responsible for overseeing all state elections. However, Coolidge said she was mostly involved with SCORE.

Coolidge said Lowder's departure will not hamper preparations for the presidential election. Taylor said her agency received a tip last week about Lowder's residential connection to Paulsen.

"Our question was, 'Well gosh, is she getting free rent?' " Taylor said, adding that she wants to know if Lowder was recusing herself from decisions related to Paulsen's contracts.

Online records show that Lowder and Paulsen share the same phone number at the Cherokee Street address. That phone number is also listed at Lowder's current apartment.

Non-disclosure criticized

Terry Lowder, Holly Lowder's husband, lives in Alamosa. When reached by phone Friday, Terry Lowder said they have two grown children together and have been separated since she moved to Denver in 2006. He said he's heard of Paulsen and thought they worked together.

"She's mentioned him," Terry Lowder said.

He said he thought his wife was living on her own. He said she had been living at the Cherokee Street place for at least a year.

"I didn't know she had moved" to another apartment, he said.

Taylor said the Lowder situation poses an apparent conflict of interest that violated personnel rules. She said the relationship should have been disclosed, "at a minimum."

Taylor criticized Secretary of State Mike Coffman for not knowing about Lowder and Paulsen.

Coolidge said Coffman could not have known about that.

"Coffman maintains a professional environment and doesn't socialize with the office staff or the county clerks except at official functions. Therefore, he knows nothing about their personal lives," Coolidge said.

"When we became aware of the potential conflict, we investigated it and took appropriate action," Coolidge said. He said he cannot discuss the issue because of state personnel rules.

kimm@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2361 Burt Hubbard contributed to this report.

Comments

  • September 6, 2008

    7:33 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    polyglot writes:

    Can't say I blame her for retiring. beats putting up with another BOGUS witch hunt from Chantell Taylor. Shame on the RMN for ignoring the FACTS - John Paulson has been working with clerks in Colorado for over 20yrs. Given that he managed their data for 20 yrs it only makes sense that he would help transition to a new system. Next time leave the trash reporting to the Enquirer, your circulation might benefit

  • September 6, 2008

    12:03 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    NotSoros writes:

    Chantell Taylor, 2006 Chair of the liberal Blueflower Project, benefactor of the George Soros funded liberal Ethics Watch (a branch of a Washington DC based, left wing "ethics" group), is on another witch hunt. There should be an audit and once there is another finding of nothing wrong, she should be sued by all those who she has attacked for the money it cost to the State and the punitive damages enough to end her ability to bother others.

  • September 6, 2008

    12:47 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    rascalofearth writes:

    she just happened to live in a home owned by one of the vendors? are you kidding me that is sh*y ethics at best and that possibly will show a quid=pro=quo relationship if properly investigated.

    in 2004 the gop was able to steal ohio and several florida countes by screwing with the election process. looks like colorado is next.

  • September 6, 2008

    2:22 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    michellesadler2006 writes:

    polyglot & NotSoros to the rescue!

    Both are clearly working for the GOP, these are not regular voters.

    polyglot sounds like Lowder herself, or at least someone who is very close to her, hardly impartial.

    NotSoros sounds like someone who either watches too much Fox News, or works for them. The right-wing Soros smear tactics are so old & unfounded. Republicans need to first look up the definition of the word hypocrisy, then they need to take a look at their smear lords Rupert Murdoch, Karl Rove, & many others.

    Since the GOP has been involved in many un-American anti-Democratic vote-gaming, vote-rigging, & election fraud schemes an investigation into Lowder's free house as a possible bribe & at the very least a huge giant lack of ethics is not a witch hunt, but rather the required action of a Democracy.

    Our elections are, for a lack of a better term, being stolen by the Republican party, over & over. Until this is taken seriously, we do not live in a free Democratic country.

    FYI: I study this stuff, have for many years, many thousands of hours invested. For more information go to BradBlog & BlackBoxVoting & GregPalast, these are watchdogs that have been investigating & documenting election tampering by the GOP for many years.

    “Information is the currency of Democracy.”
    Thomas Jefferson

  • September 6, 2008

    2:26 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    chimpeach writes:

    Why is it Republicans always scoff at the idea of investigating election fraud?

    Oh yeah, that's right. It's because they're the ones who always benefit from election fraud. Just a coincidence I'm sure.

  • September 6, 2008

    5:37 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    Rainbow522 writes:

    The 2004 film "Farenheit 9/11" proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the Republicans stole the 2004 election.
    Secondly, Republicans own the corporate voting machine vendors. Figure the rest out for yourself.

  • September 7, 2008

    3:57 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    roger44 writes:

    Coffman may not socialize around the office, but is responsible for checking out such connections as part of his job. Another case of government failure. There may be nothing to the whole deal, but accountability is sure in question.

  • September 7, 2008

    7:13 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    carbon05 writes:

    So far there are a least two elections the Republicans stole. With the Democrats in charge of congress for the last two years, why have we not at least had an investigation to expose these crooks. Maybe its because there is no proof just a bunch of whining by some crazy left wing nuts. Come on guys that stolen election line is getting real old.

  • September 7, 2008

    10:28 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    seeingeyeseesall writes:

    "stolen election line" ??

    What's real old is that half of any population is dumber than a box of bricks, statistically, and that so many of them don't care when elections are stolen since they aren't bright enough to understand what's being done to them...

    We should require people to have an 130 IQ in order to vote. Smart isn't honest, but at least there'd be less excuse for flushing your own country down the drain, which neo-cons have effectively done.

  • September 7, 2008

    12:53 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    gundersonrogers writes:

    IT APPEARS THAT NO COMMENTERS HERE ARE CHALLENGING THAT ELECTION FRAUD IS HAPPENING --ONLY WHICH PARTY IS RESPONSIBLE. EITHER WAY THE LOSER REMAINS, "We, the People."

    MichelleSadler is correct, BradBlog & BlackBoxVoting & GregPalast, are the best sources for learning about, and following this topic.

    Question: Who's working to fix this? Certainly not Republicans or Democrats.

    Check out the work of one Alan Dechart at OVC
    www.openvotingconsortium.org/
    Mr. Dechart is creating an Open Voting system software that is entirely transparent, creates paper receipts, and can show the voter that their vote was both tabulated and correctly added to the vote count. --and all of this using off the shelf hardware, and with costs far less than for-profit companies.

    Voting shouldn't be "for-profit."

  • September 8, 2008

    9:01 a.m.

    Suggest removal

    rickg19611 writes:

    "The 2004 film "Farenheit 9/11" proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that....."

    Anyone stupid enough to rely on a movie for their knowledge of the world deserves to remain ignorant of reality.

  • September 8, 2008

    12:48 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    daveL writes:

    Kudos to whomever is investigating the crooked workings of the our elections. Nothing says guilty like quitting abruptly when someone dares to have transparency of government.

    Wonder what other illegalities are going on in the Election Division in the SOS office under Coffman?

  • September 11, 2008

    2:03 p.m.

    Suggest removal

    rmtalker writes:

    Have you asked yourself? How is it possible that in 2004 Colorado voted in Democrat control of the Colorado Senate... AND Democrat control of the Colorado House of Reps for the first time in 40 years .... AND Elected Democrat Salizar to the vacant U.S.Senate position... BUT in that SAME election G.W.Bush won Colorado?????????

    What Dems voted Bush? What Bushies voted Dem? The state was too polarized for that much cross-over.

    And after the 2004 election the Colorado Head of Elections, Donna Whatsherface, was given a national position under G.W.Bush ..!..

    (the weekend prior to the 2004 elections Donna departed the state, supposedly to visit her brother in an Arizona hospital who was injured in a motorcycle accident. Kitchen too hot? Cover? )

    Theres real smoke and fire here...