Colorado Springs embarrassingly full of Voter Registration Quirks & Mistakes

Yesterday the Colorado Springs Independent published an article outlining some of the strange things appearing daily. Ironically my lovely wife Sue was one of the profiled examples to these happenings.

Others are coming to share similar fears as questions build about errors, misinformation and appearances of partisanship coming out of County Clerk Bob Balink's office.

Sue Nemanich requested a mail-in ballot in August. When it arrived in early October, her last name was spelled with an extra "a" at the end. Bob Nemanich, Sue's husband and an active local Democrat, started making calls to figure out what to do. He says he received repeated assurances she would have no problem casting the ballot with the misspelling — until Liz Olson, the county election manager, told him the ballot was "spoiled," and that a new one would be sent.

The new ballot arrived with "DEM" showing through the envelope. Nemanich says his initial fears about contradictory and misleading information were gradually overtaken by amazement.

"Anybody who sees this can see this is a Democratic Party ballot," he says. "It invites easy manipulation."

Pat Waak, the Colorado Democratic Party Chair, says Tuesday afternoon she's "very troubled" by reports she'd heard from El Paso and Weld counties of mail-in ballots with party affiliation on address labels.

"It concerns me that it might lead to selecting out certain ballots," Waak says.

Later in the afternoon, Balink and Olson explain that a voter's party affiliation only shows up on replacement mail-in ballots. The labels are generated automatically, Olson explains, by the state's voter registration database. Balink rejects the suggestion that the markings on mail-in ballots represent a "glitch."

Now think about it. It is believed that up to 1.2M to 1.5M Mail In Ballots will be distributed in Colorado this election and how many will end up spoiled? One percent to possibly five percent, that is 12,000-15,000 up to 60,000 to 75,000 not having a secret ballot. That in of itself could effect the election if those ballots suddenly don't end up being counted because someone assumed which way a voter cast their ballot because of party affiliation.

On the heals of this is the Independent's publisher, John Weiss who has convened another of his appeasing Town Hall Meetings.

Dear Clerk Balink:
Thank you for agreeing to participate and/or to have your associate Liz Olson participate in this important town hall meeting that will take place on Monday, October 27 from 2-3:30 PM at the Penrose Library in downtown Colorado Springs. The focus of this gathering will be to provide local citizens with a forum to air their concerns – and hopefully have their questions answered...

...El Paso County Commission Chair Dennis Hisey, Colorado Springs City Councilor Jan Martin and State Senator John Morse have all agreed to help promote this Town Hall as well as participate in this meeting, if their schedules permit...The Independent, The Gazette and KRCC-FM have agreed to help promote and co-sponsor this event. In addition, three non-partisan civic organizations have agreed to help co-sponsor and help promote this event: Common Cause of the Pikes Peak Region, League of Woman Voters of the Pikes Peak Region and Citizens Project. We also anticipate that a local station will televise this session.

Speaking of Senator John Morris, he held a (link to live video) press conference in Colorado Springs

The El Paso County Clerk and Recorder is under scrutiny again. The Democratic Party claims Bob Balink isn't being fair with the election process.

This all started about a month ago when allegations surfaced that Colorado College students were given the wrong voter registration requirements. Clerk and Recorder Balink has since apologized for giving the students the wrong information.

But now, the Democrats said they question his competency to run a fair and clean election. This, Democrats said, after glitches continue to come out of Balink’s office.

The most recent incident happened over the weekend when voter registration information on a completed absentee ballot request form was apparently faxed from the clerk's office to several media outlets including KKTV. The voter’s personal information was on the form, including his social security number, birth date and address.

"When asked why this got faxed, he (Balink) said, he had no clue. I suggest we get a county clerk who has a clue. Regardless of the mistake, who was he faxing this to anyway?" questioned State Senator John Morse.

Balink wasn't available for an on-camera interview, but he told 11 News he didn't know how the information got out.

"He's working on a strategy to suppress votes. He’s not working to make sure everyone gets to vote," said Sen. Morse.

So here is the bottom line. If you have received a Mail In Ballot in Colorado, carefully review all the information regarding your ID. If there is one iota of a mistake, you must get a replacement. When you do, please do not mail it, it will show your party affiliation but hand deliver it back to the County Clerk's Office. Report all irregularities to the press and the Obama campaign.