two Daily Camera letters: one pro-Linda Salas, one pro-DREs for the disabled

[Mary Eberle <m.eberle@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Two letters in the Daily Camera, April 30, 2006:

LINDA SALAS: Clerk has done well, should stay

I would like to go on record as being a strong supporter of Linda Salas 
for county clerk.

Linda has done outstanding work taking a county office that was in dire 
need of help and making it run more smoothly and efficiently than ever 
before. I've lived in the Boulder area since high school and I remember 
getting my first auto registration — and spending hours doing so. I also 
remember the first time I voted and how lax the identification 
requirements were. Modernization has continued apace during her tenure, 
and county records are better maintained now than ever before.

Having served as an election judge during the'04 election cycle, I can 
say in all honesty that the elections division was run incredibly well — 
with great care to detail and accuracy — despite a switch to new 
equipment and understaffing. She has been an impartial clerk and done 
amazingly well despite personal illness and endless partisan attacks 
from both parties. Her equanimity and fairness are crucial in the 
clerk's role. The dedication of Ms. Salas and her staff honor all of us, 
and she should be continued in her post.

I strongly urge you to give her your support.

M. DOUGLAS WRAY
Longmont


ELECTIONS: We deserve equal access to the polls

As people with disabilities, we want to respond to the opponents of the 
new accessible voting machines recently approved by the Boulder County 
commissioners for this coming election. Many of us have had to rely on 
other people to cast our ballots; our disabilities have robbed us of our 
right to a secret ballot.

Technology now exists that will give us back that right. Federal 
legislation has been enacted (2002 Help America Vote Act) that will 
restore that right to us. Yet there is impassioned discussion that the 
cost of our ability to vote in secret is too expensive. The county will 
receive a $1 million grant to pay for the majority of the cost of this 
technology.

Opponents talk about the possible dangers of computerizing our voting 
system. We trust computers to manage every aspect of our financial and 
personal life every day. Yet computer technology cannot be trusted for 
one day a year to count votes. Opponents talk in reverence about the 
safety of paper ballots despite the errors and fraud in recent elections 
with paper ballots. Opponents of the state-approved voting machines 
carry signs that say "Every Vote Must Count." Apparently "every vote" 
does not include the votes of people with disabilities.

It is 2006. We have waited long enough to be able exercise our right to 
vote in secret.

BRUCE GOGUEN
and 13 other signatures
The Advocacy Group at the Center for
People with Disabilities
Boulder