Secret scheme to overturn 2002 vote against mail ballot elections

The Colorado Secretary of State and several county clerks are scheming to overturn the 2002 vote which rejected the use of mail ballot elections for major elections. Rumors persist that certain state legislators are involved in the plot.

Colorado Voter Group hopes to inform readers of the background and facts regarding Colorado's current voting system mess.

1. In November 2002, Colorado voters rejected Amendment 28, which would have deprived voters of the right to vote in precincts by anonymous ballot.

63 of 64 Colorado counties voted this amendment down. 757,299 voters, nearly 60 percent of the votes, voted “no”. See election results on pages 145 and 159 of the November 2002 Abstract of Votes.

2. It appears from a Rocky Mountain News article, County clerks urge all-mail vote in '08, that county clerks are meeting in secret with the Secretary of State to overturn the vote of the people.

Further, it appears that clerks were not informed that the Colorado Voter Group has already submitted to the Secretary of State a workable voting alternative in the event that voting equipment is decertified. This alternative fulfills both the law and the wishes of the people of Colorado, and is a superior alternative to mail ballot elections.

3. Mail ballot elections have been proven to be undesirable. They are not secure, not accurate, not verifiable, not accessible, not anonymous, not transparent, and not accountable. Those who claim otherwise are either not informed or don’t care.

None of the problems brought out during the debate on Amendment 28 have been fixed.

The Rocky Mountain News published an Editorial, Don't take chance on mail ballots.

The Denver Post published PRO-CON opinions of Rutt Bridges (Bighorn Center) and Al Kolwicz (CAMBER) that addressed many of the issues.

CBS investigative reporter Rick Salinger, in an October 31, 2002 televised report, disproved the accuracy and security claims of election officials.

It is wrong for Colorado officials to secretly scheme to override the vote of the people.

It would be wrong to force Colorado voters to vote using a system that cannot be trusted because it cannot be verified.

Colorado legislators should reject any attempt to get them to join in this conspiracy to override the will of Colorado voters. They should use their position of trust to represent the people, not the bureaucracy.

We challenge the Secretary of State, the county clerks, and Colorado Legislators to an independently moderated public debate on whether mail ballot elections are secure, accurate, verifiable, anonymous, accessible, accountable, and transparent.