NEWS UPDATES
FLASH
BREAKING NEWS! HB 1303
Governor Hickenlooper signs bill desspite massive public objections.
May 10, 2013. Governor signs disruptive election system bill. Partisan legislators conspired with the secret "Colorado County Clerks Association" to overturn two decisive statewide votes. HB13-1303 creates same day registration (defeated by voters 60.8% to 39.2%) and mandatory mail ballot elections (defeated by voters 57.6% to 42.4%). The Governor ignored the many appeals for his VETO. Click to read appeal for the governor's veto. Attachments #1 #2
Colorado SOS resolves election complaint; commits to improve election integrity.
March 20, 2013. Colorado’s election system is vulnerable to undetected error and fraud, according to a report by Colorado’s Secretary of State. The report concludes that stricter, measurable standards and increased oversight are needed in order to protect the integrity of elections. Click to read the report and underlying documents.
Officials work with press association to block public access to records.
March 8, 2013. Government-backed organizations including the Colorado Municipal League and Colorado Counties Inc., along with the Colorado Press Association have successfully pushed thru passage of HB13-1041. This bill is reported to have been crafted by a long list of government attorneys and lobbyists.
The bill prevents most of the public from inspecting records that might be used to disclose official malfeasance or misdeeds.
Researcher reports violations to County Commissioners
March 7, 2013. Election researcher Jim August released a report to Commissioners showing that Boulder County violated its purchasing standards. The County used untested, unspecified, unreliable equipment and procedures to conduct the 2012 General Election. Election results have not been certified, and the County has paid more the $200,000 for equipment that may not be useable. Click to read the report and the underlying documents.
County Clerks meet in Secret. Refuse public observers.
January 10, 2013. Colorado County Clerks met secretly in Pueblo, Jan 14-18.
The Agenda calls for 9 sessions on Elections. And at least one on Legislation. CCCA uses paid lobbyests to pursue its objectives. Who pays for this private affair? Who pays for the time off for all of these government officials? And what right do they have to violate the intent of Colorado's Sunshine Laws?
The public is prohibited from participating in the discussions, or even oberving the sessions. The Secretary of Stat's office is a featured participatant. Voting Equipment Vendors are a featured participant. But the public is not permitted to even watch.
Colorado Voter Group's request to observe the meetings was denied.
Vote by Mail Sorter Contracts and Specifications are now online.
January 10, 2013. Specifications and contracts for Boulder County's Mail Sorter are now online. The sorter is used in the county's new, uncertified Mail Ballot Component. Other functions performed by the Mail Ballot Component include personnel, data files, and procedures to verify voter identity (through signatures), maintain the poll book, and cast ballots in behalf of voters.
Click: Hearing Testimony and see "Vote by Mail Sorter Contracts and Specifications".
Boulder County is no-show at HAVA Complaint Hearing
December 26, 2012. Boulder County did not show up to defend itself against charges of using an uncertified voting system modification during the 2012 General election. The County replaced the mail ballot component with new hardware, procedures, and programming. Three people testified in support of the charges: Al Kolwicz, who filed the charges; Jim August, an election integrity poll watcher; and Mary Eberle, a member of the Canvass Board.
Click: Hearing Testimony
Citizen Center Settles Secret Ballot Case with Mesa County
December 12, 2012. The $30,000 settlement resolves disputes with Mesa County involving fundamental election integrity and verifiability. Citizen Center will continue to litigate the secret ballot case (Citizen Center v. Gessler et al.) against Secretary Gessler and the Clerks of Boulder, Chaffee, Eagle, Jefferson and Larimer Counties.
Boulder County Canvass Board withholds certification of 2012 election.
November 26, 2012. Because of obvious defects in reported results, and missing data needed to verify the number of voters, ballots cast, ballots counted, and votes counted in each contest, the majority of the board voted to withhold certification. Colorado Voter Group praised the board's decision,
"We are in total agreement with you that it would be irresponsible for any canvass board or election official to certify any election lacking for each contest, precinct and style verifiable numbers of voters, ballots cast, ballots counted, and votes counted, especially knowing of errors that you cannot dismiss as insignificant."
Petition filed to stop clerks from blocking provisional voter eligibility oversight
November 8, 2012. Authorized watchers from parties, candidates and issue committees are being blocked from challenging provisional voters, and from verifying decisions made by election workers, and from assisting in the correction of descrepencies.
Watchers are being denied visual access to the information on the sealed applications.
Citizen Center and a group of co-petitioners have petitioned Secretary of State Gessler and Requested an Emergency Declatory Order that will stop clerks from interferring with watchers.
Boulder County Canvass Board and Election Integrity Updates
November 6, 2012. The Canvass Board and the Election Integrity sections of this website have been updated. More detail on Canvass Board duties. More watcher reports and election complaints.
Onerous restrictions eliminate independent oversight of election
November 6, 2012. The Colorado Department of State and many County Clerks meeting in secret without proper notice have issued directives that disallow watchers from witnessing and verifying election processes. By doing so, officials are rewriting the law. The doors to independent oversight of this election have been slammed, and paid government officials are able to influence the outcome of govenment-favored candidate and issue contests. Colorado's disregard for the rights of the public have turned this into an election that mirrors the Stalin-esque, let the people cast their ballots, we the insiders will decide the outcome and there is nothing they can do about it.
Boulder County settles lawsuit
October 29, 2012. Following numerous complaints from election integrity watchers and the settlement of the Shnelvar v Hall lawsuit, Boulder County has conceded that watchers, in the remaning portion of the 2012 General Election will be permitted to exercise their statutory authority to witness and verify the signature verification process and to participate in problem resolution under certain circumstances. Watchers will now be able to: (i) see the signature scanned from the ballot return envelope and the signature from the voter database being compared, (ii) hear conversations between election judges, and (iii) see the Accept/Reject decision The county also agreed that two election judges from different party affiliations will operate as a team to verify signatures, "when practical". If insufficient judges are available to staff the two person teams, the clerk will continue to perform signature verification with a single election judge operating alone. However, if this happens, (iv) watchers can now escalate any single judge signature verification decision that they question to a team of two judges, before the signature decision is made final. ... more see Transparency Lawsuit
Watcher files complaint; demands suspension of mail ballot processing.
October 25, 2012. Boulder County is using uncertified equipment and faulty voter verification procedures to process incoming mail ballots. Watcher Jim August, a retired engineer, has documented problems and has filed an election complaint. August reports that the equipment is is failing and the voter verification process has major flaws. The pollbook, the list of electors who returned their mail ballot, may be contaminated. Forged and unsigned ballot return envelopes can result in ineligible ballots being counted. ... more
ELECTION ALERT: "NEW" Watcher Guidance
October 25, 2012. Colorado SOS Gessler has issued Election Alert 2012-03. Watchers may witness and verify the signature verification process, counties are encouraged to use bipartisan teams of two judges to verify signatures, and clerks are encouraged to allow more than one watcher per party/committee to witness and verify signature verification. Clerks are encouraged to establish a process for watchers to express concerns over signatures; alternatively, watchers may file a HAVA complaint. ... more.
Also, election officials must assign at least one election judge in each location to be the watcher's point of contact, judges must supply watchers with a list of individuals who have voted at that location, and watchers must stay at least six feet from voting booths, ballot boxes, and DREs. Specific authority of watchers is included in the judges' instruction. ... more.
Colorado county clerks blast Gessler for "errors and oversights"
October 8, 2012. The Colorado County Clerks Association today unleashed a litany of complaints on Secretary of State Scott Gessler, pointing to a "cumbersome list of issues" with his office. Read more ...
Click to read Letter from Colorado Clerks to Secretary Gessler.
HAVA complaint filed against Secretary of State
October 1, 2012. Boulder County elector, Al Kolwicz has accused Colorado Secretary of State Scott Gessler of not enforcing election laws. After getting no response to his notice to the Secretary of the violations, Kolwicz filed an official Help America Vote Act (HAVA) complaint. The complaint charges that the Secretary is permitting the use of uncertified election equipment. Kolwicz, a Colorado Voter Group Trustee, asserts that the use of equipment could result in undetected errors and interfere with public oversight of critical election processes. Click for copy of complaint.
NEW October 8, 2012. Email requests urgent attention on HAVA Complaint -- not bureaucratic foot dragging. The SOS indicates that they may take as long as ninety (90) days to make a determination on the HAVA complaint. Too late, the election will be over. Click to read email.
Secret Ballot denied by Federal Judge Arguello.
September 21, 2012. Federal Judge Christine Arguello ruled today that there is no fundamental right to vote using a secret ballot. She dismissed the lawsuit brought by Citizen Center.
Election Integrity Advocates fear that the ruling will be used by County Clerks and the Secretary of State to continue their illegal practices and to support their theory that government officials, election judges, candidates and issue committees, and many others are permitted to know specific voter's choices. "This will cause some voters to vote as they are told, rather than to freely vote their conscience. Voters will be forced to forfeit voting their conscience, or not vote at all", says Al Kolwicz, Colorado Voter Group Trustee.
Advocates fear also that officials will use the ruling to (i) block Canvass Boards from auditing election materials, (ii) erase important data from election records that are produced in response to Colorado Open Records Act requests, and (iii) block Watchers from performing their official duties. The resultant undetected error and fraud can result in incorrect election outcomes, and incorrect public policy direction.
Systems experts scoff at the suggestion that Colorado election officials can secure the non-anonymous voter information from being hacked, stolen, or even intentionally copied or sold. "Even the nation's most secure sites have not been immune to such threats", says Kolwicz.
Defending the secret ballot has been a very expensive legal undertaking. Citizen Center is seeking financial support to continue their work to protect the secret ballot and the public oversight of elections.
Watcher Guidelines Hidden inside of an insider SOS Week in Brief – Sep 21 is a new Watcher Guideline
This new guideline is a major change in the way that Colorado Department of State (CDOS) interprets Colorado’s Watcher statutes.
Where this new watcher guideline is followed, watchers will be able to more completely exercise their statutory authority to oversee and participate in the conduct of elections.
Where this new watcher guideline is not followed, watchers will continue to be blocked from exercising their statutory authority to witness and verify all steps in the conduct of an election.
The new watcher guideline is not an election rule. It simply reinforces the authority that watchers are delegated by current statute. It is hoped that CDOS will endeavor to enforce the statutes.