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Erika (Stulzman) of the Daily Camera Editorial Staff (copy of a letter to Erika written through the Daily Camera web
site) I would hope you get a chance to educate yourself on the
election reform topic more before writing again about how bad it might be that
Boulder is slow reporting vote counts. Speed of reporting is just about
the lowest criterion for quality in the election, and there is much which
should be prioritized over speed. I hope you come to realize how
destructive the pressure for quick reporting can be. This is an enormously
complex topic and some of us are basically devoting all of our free time to
trying to understand it, and testify about it on behalf of the voting public at
the Legislature. I have written about what is wrong with Colorado
election law, as well has testified on numerous occasions. I do hope that you
will contact members of the Boulder community of election quality activists
such as Neal McBurnett 494-6493 (Green) or Al Kolwicz 494-1540 (Republican) or
Mary Eberle 442-2164 (Unaffiliated) or Margit Johansson 442-1668
(Democratic). All of us have been working together to improve elections. One of the greatest challenges is to spread a better
understanding of the reality of voting through the media. I just don't
understand why you wrote the following: "But the county needs to get it together. If Jefferson and
Denver counties can have their votes counted in a timely manner (and they did),
why can't we? A serious dialogue about scrapping our system is step No. 1. Had
this been a contested election with major problems, Boulder County's mysterious
"dust" would be this year's hanging chads. That is unacceptable. And a note to anyone wanting to challenge Hall for her clerk's
position because of the slow election results: That's what she said." I don’t disagree that a discussion about scrapping the
system is in order. In fact a discussion about scrapping all the systems
in Colorado is in order. The technical test board of the Secretary of
State actually recommended not certifying any of the voting systems currently
in use in Colorado (except hand counting). Only through the catch-22 of
Colorado law and with the help of our 2008 Legislature could our Secretary of
State (now Congressman to be) Mike Coffman personally decide that all voting
systems were ok to use. There are better voting systems which could be
certified and there are certainly better systems which could be designed if
state laws would only accommodate these better ideas. It could be that Jefferson and Denver counties are not as careful
as Boulder County about election quality. Have you checked? Why not
investigate the truth about "hanging chads"? These were
foolishly presented as the worst thing that ever happened to an American
election when in reality they were an indication of a reasonably well designed
voting system valiantly recording evidence of voter intent when rank
mismanagement of the voting system made it very difficult for voters to
vote. Rank mismanagemnet on a totally electronic voting system leads to
no record of voter intent whatsoever. Think about it. That is a very good
reason to use paper ballots. Paper ballots allow voters in difficult
situations (and eligible voters represent a spectacularly wide variety of
human characteristics not the least of which includes old age) to express
themselves. Machines do have difficulty interpreting some of these marks
on paper ballots, although they are quite good at adding them up, once the
marks have been understood. I would be glad to send you more information about the defects
of Colorado elections and election law, and would invite you to attend the
Election Reform Committee hearings on Nov 12, although these should be taken
with a grain of salt considering that the Commission consists of mostly
election officials who are not the ones who most need a commission to improve
the election... they have considerable power in their own hands. Perhaps
you could widen the scope of your writing on this topic. FYI Eagle County votes with a similar system to that of Boulder
County. I am the Canvass Board member for the Democratic Party. I
have first hand experience, through testing, of the various defects and
benefits of that system, although I am now sure I have not seen all the defects
yet. Please send me your email address and I will reply with more
information. Harvie Branscomb Eagle County Canvass Board Colorado Voter Group harvie@xxxxxxxxxxxxx Not every
vote counts: Boulder voters deserve a reliable fix Did you vote? Did it feel good?
Did you thank the polling place volunteers? Did your party spill out onto Pearl
Street last night, to peacefully celebrate the coming change in government? Did your vote count? If you
voted in Boulder County, the answer is complicated. Last night as President-elect
Barack Obama delivered his victory speech on live television from Chicago, the
overwhelming majority of Boulder votes were not counted. Staff members and volunteers
with the Boulder County Clerk and Recorder's Office had counted approximately
63,000 of the 170,000 expected ballots as of Wednesday morning. Wednesday
afternoon, that was still the number on the official Web site. Other counties reported
problems, but Boulder County was the slowest in the Denver metro area.
Officials reported that tiny bits of dust got on the ballots, interfering with
the electric optical scanners. In the 2000 presidential
election, nearly 2 million ballots in the country were disqualified, and
hanging chads and the like threatened an electoral crisis -- averted by the Supreme
Court. Two years later, Congress enacts the Help America Vote Act, signed into
law by the court-approved president. HAVA mandates that all municipalities
upgrade many aspects of their election procedures, including scuttling the
punch cards Boulder used to use. Two years later, Sen. John
Kerry took on President George Bush and Boulder's system had a meltdown. The
count dragged on for days, and Boulder's election returns were the slowest in
the country. During the elections of 2006 -- where turnout was lower than in a
presidential election year -- only half of the votes here were counted by the
time the governor's race and U.S. House races were decided. The then-County Clerk and
Recorder Linda Salas came under fire, and emphasized that accuracy was more
important than speed, which is as true today as it was in 2006. But voters were
mad, and that same year elected Hillary Hall to replace Salas. Hall's platform
appealed to voters, especially her claim that voting results were too slow in
Boulder County. So a heartfelt "thank
you" to all of the officials and volunteers who likely are still working
diligently on this year's historic election. And thanks to voters, many of
whom voted early -- as requested -- and turned out in impressive numbers to be
heard. And to the celebrants: Thank
you for being civil and for reminding the citizens that taking to the streets
is a part of an active democracy. But the county needs to get it
together. If Jefferson and Denver counties can have their votes counted in a
timely manner (and they did), why can't we? A serious dialogue about scrapping
our system is step No. 1. Had this been a contested election with major
problems, Boulder County's mysterious "dust" would be this year's
hanging chads. That is unacceptable. And a note to anyone wanting to
challenge Hall for her clerk's position because of the slow election results:
That's what she said. -- Erika Stutzman, |