How the presentation went - and what you can do

[Paul Walmsley <paul@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Hello everyone,

Today's presentation to the commissioners went better than I expected.  
They seemed engaged, and asked several questions.  Neal McBurnett and
Ralph Shnelvar spoke after I did, as did Tom Halicki from the Clerk's
office.

The bad news is that the commissioners chose not to take any immediate
action.  They stated that they needed more information -- or something to
that effect.  It's not clear to me what their next step will be.  They did
note that they needed to finish up their letter regarding random-sample
hand-counting to the Secretary of State -- this was the letter they had
decided to send several months ago.

In terms of auditing, that leaves us where we were before.  Unless Hart
InterCivic is formally asked to implement a ballot interpretation report
soon, the clock will run out on us, and it will be impossible to implement
a random-sample hand-count audit for the 2004 general election.

So if you're looking for a way to help, here's a suggestion.  Perhaps the
commissioners and the county clerk will be more inclined to move forward
on this if they get some feedback from the public that this is important.  
You might consider writing a well-reasoned, polite but firm letter or an
E-mail to them.  I've enclosed their contact information at the bottom of
this message.  And if you so choose, I would also enjoy receiving a copy
of any letters you send.

A random-sample hand-count of several hundred live ballots could catch
many potential sources of error or fraud that might affect a
computer-tabulated election.  It's not a "silver bullet," but it's a good
start.  Before we can add this extra verification step, we need to have
support for it in our ballot-counting software.  Since that support is not
currently there, the County should have Hart InterCivic start work on the
necessary code as soon as possible.

Finally, I am very grateful to everyone who has expressed support, either
via E-mail or verbally or by showing up at the hearing.  It means a lot.


- Paul


Contact information: 

Linda Salas
Boulder County Clerk and Recorder
1750 33rd St. 
Boulder, CO 80301

lsalas@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Tom Halicki
Elections Manager
1750 33rd St. 
Boulder, CO 80301

thalicki@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


Boulder County Commissioners
PO Box 471
Boulder, CO 80306

commissioners@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx