Dear Friends near and far (apologies for multiple postings),
If you have already asked for a veto of HB12-1036, I apologize for
bothering you again. However, you will be pleased that today, the
Denver Post editorialized in support of vetoing this bad bill. Here
is the link: Editorial:
Hickenlooper should veto ballot access measure
- The Denver Post http://www.denverpost.com/opinion/ci_20639939/editorial-hickenlooper-should-veto-ballot-access-measure#ixzz1v81rbXxo
Besides the Governor's website (link in original letter below)
here's another way to ask for the veto:
To
add your name to the growing list of concerned citizens asking
for a veto of HB 12-1036 the bill to limit citizen access to
records needed for election verification, please read and
complete the prepared veto
request letter on the Verified
Voting website and forward the link to others.
Finally, attached to this email is a "please veto" letter to the
Governor from Citizen Center (http://www.TheCitizenCenter.org),
a new nonprofit I am a founding member of that is dedicated to the
people’s right to know and citizens’ role as the final judge of all
public business. Citizen Center welcomes new members as we embark on
raising Colorado's "F" grade for citizens' access to Colorado
government records (http://www.stateintegrity.org/).
No cost, just please support us.
I commend the editorial and letter to your attention. And I ask that
you write to the Governor one way or another and request him to veto
SB12-1036.
Thank you for all you do,
Mary
On 5/16/2012 9:20 PM, Mary Eberle wrote:
Dear
Friends near and far,
A Denver Post article today (linked below) explains some
of the controversy surrounding a bill to decrease the transparency
of our elections. Our county (and some city) clerks are on the
wrong side of this issue. Coloradans for Voting Integrity, of
which I am a member, is part of the "growing coalition" mentioned
in the article. In the attached letter, we are asking for the
Governor to veto HB12-1036 (the new number for SB12-155--full
details in the Denver Post story).
- It is wrong to black out the transparency of elections for
most of the year by preventing citizens and the press from
inspecting anonymous voted ballots as open records under the
Colorado Open Records Act (CORA).
- CORA is a vital law that protects citizens from having their
government operate in a nontransparent way. Undercutting CORA
is a very serious measure and is not necessary for maintaining
election transparency or ballot integrity or voter privacy.
- Very little testimony was taken on this bill because of the
chaos at the end of the session. (The bill posted on the
legislature's website as of this evening is still the May 3
version. Nothing in it says anything about elections and CORA,
but you can still see the old text of SB12-155, which is dead,
but was added to HB12-1036 at the last possible minute.)
- If something is odd about an election, that means that the
normal oversight of election judges, election watchers, and
canvass board members may have been insufficient and further
timely oversight by more citizens is needed.
If you don't want to write a technical reason for why you are
asking for a veto, you could give a more general explanation. It
could go something like the following:
I am a resident of ______ County, and I value the
secrecy of my ballot. The clerk must not trace that ballot back
to me according to Colorado's laws. Therefore, after the ballots
are counted, it is all right with me if they are looked at by
those who wish to cross check ballots with the clerk's results.
Please veto HB12-1036.
If you have questions or concerns, please feel free to contact me
(m.eberle@xxxxxxxxxxxx,
303 442-2164).
Below is the Governor's website. Please help the cause of election
transparency by writing a note asking that the Governor veto
HB12-1036.
http://www.colorado.gov/govhdir/requests/opinion-leg.html
Under Jurisdiction--Please Select, enter “Legislation.” Then enter
“Other” as the bill number, unless HB12-1036 is now showing in the
list. Then enter “HB12-1036” in the Subject line. It is better if
you do not check the “consider this message to be confidential”
box at the end.
Please share with your friends, family, and colleagues. If you
prefer not to receive messages such as this one, please let me
know.
Thank you,
Mary
Mary C. Eberle
1520 Cress Court
Boulder, CO 80304
303 442-2164
Colorado groups urge veto of limits on voted-ballot
inspections
Posted: 05/16/2012 01:00:00 AM MDTBy Sara Burnett
The Denver Post (denverpost.com)
A growing coalition is asking Gov. John Hickenlooper to veto a
bill that creates rules for public inspection of voted ballots,
saying it is "an unprecedented step" to block the public's right
to ensure fair elections that was "ramrodded" through the
legislature in its final days.
Among those who have contacted Hickenlooper or plan to do so are
members of the Colorado Lawyers Committee Election Task Force,
the chairman of the Ute Mountain Ute tribe, Colorado Common
Cause, Colorado Ethics Watch and two election-integrity groups.
"The reality of this legislation is that at the most critical
time, when the public has an interest in clerks' management of
elections, it creates an unprecedented exemption from (the
Colorado Open Records Act)," said John Zakhem, a prominent
elections attorney.
Donetta Davidson, executive director of the Colorado County
Clerks Association, said she was "flabbergasted" by the
opposition. Without the bill, she said, results of this fall's
election — when Colorado is a presidential swing state — could
be delayed by court battles....
Zakhem also called the more than 45-day stay on CORA requests
outrageous, noting that the governor and lawmakers are allowed
only a 10-day stay when the legislature is in session....
Sara Burnett: 303-954-1661 or sburnett@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx
http://www.denverpost.com/legislature/ci_20631603/colorado-groups-urge-veto-limits-voted-ballot-inspections?IADID=Search-www.denverpost.com-www.denverpost.com#ixzz1v2QfARIb
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