_____________________________________________ From: Al Kolwicz [mailto:alkolwicz@xxxxxxxxx] Sent: Tuesday, January 09, 2007 7:37 AM To: Al Kolwicz Subject: PRESS 01092007 New elections chief promises reform New elections chief promises reform Hillary Hall takes oath of office as clerk and recorder By John Aguilar Tuesday, January 9, 2007 <http://www.dailycamera.com/photos/2007/jan/09/12715/> Photo by Marty Caivano Hillary Hall, who was elected Boulder County clerk and recorder in November, takes office today. When Hillary Hall is sworn in today as Boulder County's clerk and recorder, she will inherit an office that has received bruising criticism for overseeing sluggish elections that were characterized as being less than completely open and accommodating to voters. Hall, who was part of the crowd crying out for reform after the county failed to finalize its 2004 election results for days, has her work cut out for her as the issues of electronic voting, vote counting and vote centers fall under her purview. In her new post, Hall will be in charge of running elections, issuing driver's licenses and vehicle titles, and issuing documents such as marriage licenses and deeds of trust. But it's the Elections Division that will receive the most scrutiny as the county heads toward a quiet contest this fall and a presidential election in 2008. "I want people to participate in democracy," said Hall, who beat outgoing Clerk and Recorder Linda Salas in the primary election in August and went on to win the office unopposed in November. "It's why I've put so much time into this." The 41-year-old former head of the Boulder County Democratic Party said in an interview Monday that paper ballots remain the most dependable and verifiable way to cast votes and that audits of election results must go deeper. "I want people to trust and believe in the voting process," she said. STORY TOOLS * E-mail story <http://www.dailycamera.com/mailfriend/61/33614/e097966bdf/> * Comments <http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007/jan/09/new-elecxtions-chief-promxises- reform/?printer=1/> * iPod friendly <http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007/jan/09/new-elecxtions-chief-promxises- reform/ipod/> * Printer friendly <http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007/jan/09/new-elecxtions-chief-promxises- reform/?printer=1/> More County News * Winds whip up snow <http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007/jan/09/winds-whip-up-snowr/> * County sued by family of inmate who hanged self <http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007/jan/09/county-sued-by-familsy-of-inmat e-who-hanged-self/> * Local Briefs - Jan. 9 <http://www.dailycamera.com/news/2007/jan/09/boulder-emergesncy-pothdole-rep air-begins-today/> Hall said part of that trust comes when votes are counted and processed in a reasonable amount of time. To that end, she is considering adding two more vote-counting centers to handle the influx of paper ballots at the end of Election Day or implementing paper ballot scanning at individual polling places. Hall also said that abandoning Boulder County's nearly 200 precinct polling places in favor of a quarter as many vote centers - where any county voter can cast a ballot - needs more study and public input before moving forward. "I don't know if vote centers are right for Boulder County," she said. Trying to secure as many as 60 locations throughout the county large enough to serve as vote centers, Hall said, could prove challenging. She also worries about the amount of time residents would have to wait in line to cast their votes and whether that might discourage people from voting. Al Kolwicz served with Hall in 2004 on the Boulder County Board of Canvassers, which is responsible for verifying voting results and the post-election audit. The Republican said switching to a collection of vote centers would be a dire mistake. He says the centers are not "accurate, secure or verifiable" because they depend on one central voter-registration database being shared across a network. "Once you have a network, you have an opportunity for mischief by insiders or by an outside attacker," Kolwicz said. He also railed against the county's electronic-voting equipment vendor, Hart InterCivic. He urged the new clerk and recorder to abandon the company when the county's lease with Hart expires later this year and look for a new vendor that designs its equipment to include a more integrated paper trail for easier vote verification. Kolwicz said Hall understands the issues far better than her predecessor did, but he cautioned that she is only as strong as the system in which she will be working. "I think Hillary's head will be aimed in the right direction, but I don't know if she'll be effective," Kolwicz said. "I'm cautiously optimistic." Contact Camera Staff Writer John Aguilar at (303) 473-1389 or aguilarj@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx <http://www.scripps.com> (c) 2006 Daily Camera and Boulder Publishing, LLC.
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