By
PERRY SWANSON - THE GAZETTE
Government
investigators are looking into claims that voter sign-up groups turned in
forged registrations, El Paso
County's top election
official said Monday.
Clerk and Recorder Bob Balink said he reported the apparently forged documents
to the 4th Judicial District Attorney's Office, which has been investigating
for several days.
Balink said his staff found cases of voter registration groups filing two
registration forms for the same person, with nearly identical information
except for the signature. He declined to identify the groups under suspicion.
If successful, such a scheme would allow someone to cast multiple votes.
Election workers are carefully reviewing the thousands of voter registration
forms that arrive each week to spot possible fraud, Balink said.
"I think it's more widespread than we know, and right now we're uncovering
several (cases) a week," he said.
More than 18,000 registrations have been filed in El Paso County
since July.
An investigator referred questions to 4th Judicial District Attorney Jeanne
Smith, who was out of town Monday and couldn't be reached to discuss the case.
Anyone convicted of forging voter registration documents could face 12 years in
prison, Balink said.
"I hope that we do put some of these people in prison and throw away the
key for 12 years," Balink said Monday.
"The worst thing that can happen is fraud in elections."
Authorities in other parts of the state are checking similar charges. A
27-year-old Aurora
man, John MaCarthy, is facing forgery charges in connection with 48 allegedly
false registration documents discovered before they were filed with election
authorities.
Investigators said MaCarthy forged the documents in April in Arapahoe and Jefferson County while he was working for the
Campaign Finance Company, a firm that gets paid to help voters register.
No one has been charged with a crime in El Paso County.
Anyone who registers to vote should receive a voter information card in the
mail within a few weeks. If you think you have registered but haven't received
a card, call the El Paso County Election Department at 575-8683.
To verify your registration online, visit http://car.elpasoco.com/elevote. asp.
The last day to register to vote in the Nov. 2 election is Oct. 4.