Chapin--U of MN--Saguache, CO Ballot Dispute: New Clerk, Same Old Controversy

Saguache, CO Ballot Dispute: New Clerk, But Same Old Controversy

By Doug Chapin on February 6, 2012

On January 24 Saguache County, CO voters overwhelmingly recalled County Clerk Melinda Myers. Myers had been under fire ever since presiding over a hotly-disputed 2010 election in which preliminary results - which showed some candidates, including Myers' GOP opponent, leading - were ultimately reversed due to reported machine problems and other errors. Although a grand jury found no evidence of criminal conduct, the 2010 election led to a long-running battle involving Myers, local activists, election officials and the courts about whether and how to allow scrutiny of voted ballots in the name of transparency.

Those battles do not end with Myers' recall. Myers' successor - Carla Gomez, the candidate who won, then lost the 2010 election - is now in charge of an office whose conduct has sparked a legislative battle between Colorado clerks and activists about access to voted ballots.

In addition, Saguache's 2010 election will be the subject of a hearing on formal complaint filed in April 2011 with the Secretary of State's Office under the Help America Vote Act. On February 2, 2012,

Click to read more ...

Court Orders SOS Gessler to Hear HAVA Complaint--Saguache County

Original Order

Addendum Issued February 2, 2012

For Immediate Release

Secretary of State Must Hear Voting Complaints—

Denver Court Ruling

Aspen, CO, February 3, 2012 — Today the Colorado District Court for the City and County of Denver clarified that the court’s order of October 24, 2011 requires Secretary of State Scott Gessler to hold a public hearing to investigate formal complaints filed under the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) related to voting system irregularities in Saguache County’s November 2010 election.

In April 2011 Aspen citizen Marilyn Marks filed a comprehensive formal complaint with Secretary of State Gessler in accordance with the provision of state law and HAVA, which permits “any person” who believes violations of Title III of HAVA have occurred to file such a complaint. Despite the numerous irregularities documented by Ms. Marks, including voting system computer logs that show unexplained out-of-sequence time stamps of computer operations during this contentious election, Secretary Gessler refused to investigate the evidence and instead dismissed Ms. Marks’s complaint for lack of standing. Marks sued Gessler to appeal the dismissal of her complaint.

The Secretary based his dismissal of Marks’s complaint on the theory that any complainant has to prove that she has been personally aggrieved by or has personally witnessed the irregularities in question, regardless of the persuasiveness of the evidence presented on its own. Marks commented, “The court disagreed with Secretary Gessler and upheld the public policy in federal law that promotes transparency in the operation of voting systems, where problems should be exposed and investigated, not concealed through officials’ refusal to investigate documented irregularities.”

Marks’ attorney, Robert A. McGuire, commented, “The Court affirmed that both state and federal law allow any person who believes a violation of HAVA has occurred to file a complaint. This decision vindicates the right of every citizen to ensure that our elections are conducted lawfully. Voting is the fundamental mechanism that makes a functioning democracy possible, and all of us have an interest in preserving the integrity of the voting process. Our democracy belongs to the people, not to government and not to corporate voting system providers. Today’s decision will help keep it that way.”

Click to read more ...

Press Criticizes Colorado Clerks' Efforts to Reduce Election Transparency

The Colorado Clerks Association,  a publicly funded lobbying organization, is heavily promoting legislation to be carried by Senator Heath and Representative Court that would  greatly reduce the public's ability to oversee and verify its elections. Recent editorials and columns in the state's major newspapers are critical of the effort.

Hopefully the legislators will reject the officials' attempt to make Colorado's elections some of the least transparent in the country.

Here is what the editorial boards and columnists are saying:

Denver Post, (In Saguache, a vote for voters.) 

Daily Camera, (Right to know vs. Anonymity in Elections) 

Denver Post on Traceable Ballots

Denver Post (Murphy)  (Colorado must show that ballot integrity counts for something)

Grand Junction Sentinel Protecting Ballots is Legislative Imperative. 

Letter to the Editor-- The Colorado Statesman 

(My letter to Senator Heath) Choose transparency and sunshine in Colorado’s election process

Senator Rollie Heath's Public Meeting on Ballot Transparency 12.13.11

Linked below is an audio recording of the meeting which took place in the Capitol at 2 p.m. on 12.13.11.

A list of participants will be posted soon.

 http://www.glassballotbox.org/storage/HeathMeeting12.13.11.aiff

Clerk denies inspection of ballots after court ruling on transparency

Saguache citizens are finding it incredulous that Clerk Myers has again defied the public's will for election verification through public records.  Despite the state District Court statements that anonymous ballots are records available for public inspection,  Clerk Myers is not going to allow the citizens a window into what went wrong in the November 2010 election.

See her denial of the request for voted ballot review and my response:

http://www.glassballotbox.org/storage/8.16.11Response_CORA_denial.pdf

Court Rules in favor of SOS and public review of voted ballots

In a momentous decision for Colorado voters, Judge Martin Gonzales of Colorado State District Court, ruled that Colorado’s Secretary of State may conduct a review of the voted ballots in the November 2010 election, and that such ballots, if anonymous, are available for review by the public.

This ruling is of great importance to  Colorado voters as it allows the press and citizens to review and verify their elections at the most  essential level---the voted ballots.

 Click here for  the opinion handed down Thursday night.

Numerous news articles have been written about this decision:

Colorado: Saguache Co. clerk ordered to turn over ballots | The Denver Post

Colorado: Saguache ballots to be part of election review | The Pueblo Chieftain

Center Post Dispatch--Judge orders county clerk to hand over ballots

Click here to read Secretary Gessler’s comments.

I have renewed my request for a  citizens'  and press review of the Saguache ballots that will likely be more comprehensive than the SOS review.

Mesa County denies open records act request for election records

 In this letter, County Clerk Sheila Reiner rejected my CORA request for touchscreen detailed cast vote records (EL155),  and denied having the software system log required by the voting system.  She asserts that I must pay $248 (plus travel cost)  to review a paper copy of an electronic record, when she could just email an electronic copy to me.

More troublesome is her claim that she considers the public's records of anonymous votes cast on the touch-screen machines to be a "secret," to be maintained by the clerk and hand picked election officials. See my response to her specious claims.

Note that a similar denial was recieved from the Jefferson County clerk.

Hopefully, the public and press will soon start asking why the election officials are blocking public  access to fundamental election records.

Jefferson County Colorado rejects open records request for 2010 election data

Jefferson County Clerk Pam Anderson and her colleagues have denied the request for detailed touch screen  electronic “ballot” records voted in the November 2010 election. Their argument appears to morph from claims that they do not have the  requested records to the claim that while they are required to have the records, they do have to produce them stating that they are not “writings” (which includes electronic data) under Colorado’s Open Records laws.

The email sent from Elections Manager Josh Liss to Assitant County Attorney David Wunderlich was particularly telling as Liss suggested that the County delay its response, despite the CORA requirements to make records available in 3 business days. Liss also referenced the then pending Gessler v Myers case, which was to be ruled on almost immediately thereafter.  But most interesting was   Liss comment  to his colleague that although they had to retain the data which they had initially claimed not to have,  the rule did not require them to release it.

The public will surely ask  why Jefferson is taking this anti-transparency view when the press and public in other states may verify election results through access to these records. See http://www.scvotinginfo.com/wp/.  The very  same records which Jefferson County refuses to disclose have been reviewed in the  South Carolina election and  are posted and audited by the SC state auditor.  http://www.scvotes.org/2011/08/03/2010_general_election_audit_files. To see the benefits of such transparency, read this press release , or this academic report about the process.

Center Post-Dispatch asks Secretary of State to obtain and release testimony

In the August 4, 2011 edition, the editor of the Center Post-Dispatch takes Secretary of State Scott Gessler to task for his lack of election reform efforts in election transparency and verifiability.

They make the formal request that Gessler go to the Denver District Court and request that the transcripts of testimony of SOS officials regarding the Grand Jury's  Saguache election investigation be made public.

The article has been linked and reprinted here with permission of the paper.

http://www.glassballotbox.org/storage/08-04-11.pdf

Saguache Commissioners Hear Recall Committee Requests

 On August 2, the Board of County Commissioners heard the requests of the Committee to Recall Clerk Myers.

The meeting became rather contentious and spirited.  See the 25 minute meeting at http://vimeo.com/27232014 .

 The requests of the Committee included:

1. The appointment of a Designated Election Officer with certified clerk credentials.

2. The acknowledgement that mail-in ballots will  be allowed but not mandated, allowing voters who wish to vote in person to do so at their precinct polling places.

3. The acknowledgement that the M650 is not a certified system, and should not be used for the recall election. The Committee requests that the ballots be hand counted by bi-partisan election judges.

The BOCC had done their homework and sought legal advice, and acted to appoint County Treasurer Connie Trujillo as the Designated Election Officer. They assured the public that she would be given the resource of an election expert to consult with her throughout the process.

During the meeting one citizen named Martin claimed that a new law requires a mail ballot (only) election for recall elections. The claim was inaccurate, as he was referring to a proposed bill that never made it out of committee.

Other citizens felt that the reviews of the Grand Jury and SOS indicated that Clerk Myers had

Click to read more ...

Saguache residents gear up to recall Myers--Center Post Dispatch

Posted: Monday, Aug 1st, 2011
http://www.centerpostdispatch.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=72&story_id=1621 

SAGUACHE — The Committee to Recall Melinda Myers as Saguache County Clerk and Recorder intended to file petitions Aug. 1 with the clerk’s office for approval.

The committee is also seeking to ensure that the Board of County Commissioners follows the requirements of the statutes and hires another county clerk in order to guarantee the election is conducted in compliance with the state election code.

In their statement of grounds for recall, the group cites gross negligence on the part of Myers in fulfilling her

Click to read more ...

Wild West Elections in One Colorado County---Denver Post

Guest Commentary: Wild West elections in one Colorado county - The Denver Post

How Sagauche County's  2010 election  is the poster child of Colorado's election woes.

http://www.denverpost.com/search/ci_18525648#ixzz1T1eaTGkq  

Commentary by Al Kolwicz, Harvie Branscomb and Marilyn Marks

Colorado secretary of state sued over election-complaints standard - The Denver Post

http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_18519005#ixzz1SkCLfZi6

I have filed a complaint in Colorado State Court to challenge the Secretary of State's dismissal of my HAVA complaint.

The  Secretary's dismissal of my HAVA complaint and my appeal in filed in Colorado District Court are linked on the SOS website in the following links:

HAVA Complaint number 55-11-0001 (Saguache County)

• Complaint dismissal - 6-22-11
• Appeal of complaint dismissal - 7-19-11

ES&S Report on Saguache Election and System Log

Center Post Dispatch reports on the ES&S system log and the report delivered to the Secretary of State.

See http://www.centerpostdispatch.com/v2_news_articles.php?heading=0&page=72&story_id=1530 for  the story.

Click Here to see the System Log.  Click Here to see the "White Paper."

Canvass Board Complaint Filed with SOS; Clerk Myers Answers SOS Litigation

 Several members of the bi-partisan Saguache County  canvass board delivered a  well-written complaint to the Secretary of State. The report was delivered on February 28, 2011, but the investigation has not begun.  Click here to read the complaint.

Separately, Clerk Myers filed this answer to Secretary of State Gessler's Complaint.

Denver Post Columnist Carroll Takes on County Clerks' "Dark Ages" Stance

In his March 26 column, Vince Carroll exposes the absurd anti-transparency stance of the County Clerks' Association, which opposes the Saguache County election review by the Secretary of State.

Carroll: Counting ballots in the dark

By Vincent Carroll
Denver Post Columnist   Posted: 03/26/2011 01:00:00 AM MDT

Click link to read column

Click to read more ...

Part II--Saguache County: test case in Colorado election Integrity

The linked  article was published today on Spot.us and written by Troy Hooper.

 

Letter to Sec. Gessler--from Harvie Branscomb Posing Saguache and State Election Questions

See the letter Election Activist Harvie Branscomb sent to Secretary Gessler encouraging a thorough review in Saguache and addressing the larger  related statewide election concerns.  I added my responses to his comments.

I encourage other citizens to write Secretary Gessler to ask any questions you have or to encourage a full and thorough review.

Letter to SOS Gessler--Was the Election Certified? The Answer is Overdue

The following letter was sent to Secretary of State Scott Gessler after his March 16 Town Hall meeting:

Mr. Gessler,

 I appreciate your attempt Wednesday to answer the question of whether the election was certified, however, the citizens and press left more confused than ever on that confounding, but fundamental point.  Your commitment to research the matter is   greatly appreciated.  I write to ask that this subject be given immediate expert attention. It appears from the answer that Wayne Munster gave on Wednesday, that the Election Division was  potentially involved in robbing the defeated candidates of any realistic opportunity for contesting the election.  

Many of us were shocked to hear  from Wayne that the Division “deferred” to the local commissioners and local counsel on whether to certify the election. Neither the Division nor the BOCC made this information available to the public nor the candidates. The public and candidates were lead to believe that the letter (attached) from Judd Choate reflected the continued stance of the SOS.  

Click to read more ...

Gessler Sues Clerk Myers for Access, Holds Town Hall Meeting

Secretary of State  Scott Gessler held a well attended Saguache County Town Hall meeting on Wednesday March 16.

Hear his remarks and the questions from the citizens by clicking here. ( Audio will take a few minutes to download.)  Melinda Myers speaks near the end of the recording.

Just before arriving at the Town Hall Meeting, Gessler filed litigation for access to ballots and other election records.  Clerk Myers denied access for SOS review of the election. Her letter is  posted here. Read the complaint here.

Despite the cries of "unprecedented" intrusion by the SOS into county elections, it is clear that the SOS has the authority and responsibility to perform such reviews. See the 2004 Garfield County audit report. (large report takes while to download.)

The Denver Post published an impressive editorial  on March 17, concerning the litigation. The Press coverage of this story has been extensive.

The Denver Post 3.17.11; The  Center Post Dispatch 3.17.11 ( SOS Reviewing Loal Races);  

The Center Post Dispatch 3.17.11 (Myers Denies Acces to SOS)

The Alamosa Valley Courier  3.17.11; The Monte Vista Journal 3.16.11, 

The Pueblo Chieftain. 3.17.11;  KRDO  Colorado Springs 3.16.11 

Update on Friday, March 18, 2011 at 7:01AM by Marilyn

The Pueblo Chieftain published an editorial supportive of the SOS review. Pueblo Chieftain reporter Matt Hildner has been following the story since the beginning.