November 30, 2011
Status – Voting Rights Violation Complaint #00-11-0010
Attached are the Colorado Department of State (CDOS) responses to our two Colorado Open Record Act (CORA) requests for facts related to our October 27th Voting Rights Complaint #00-11-0010.
In the response to our CORA, “Complaint procedures”, we find:
1. The log contains no tracking data, staff assignments, or disposition such as report date. I expect that there are many complaints that have been filed with counties that do not appear on this list, and potentially complaints less formally filed with CDOS that also do not appear on this list.
2. The procedures are undated, and contain no standards, such as the definition of reasonable response time, or criteria for evaluating the complaint. There is a requirement that the County Clerk will be contacted. However, based on the response to our second CORA, this has not been done.
In the response to our CORA, “Status of Complaint”, request for “All records related to Election Complaint #00-11-0010 – Voting Rights Violation including emails, calendars, notes, correspondence, assignments, remedies considered, and communications with: (i) County Clerks and their representatives, (2) legislators and their representatives, and (iii) the press”, we find:
1. There have been no communications on this complaint? This we believe is not true. A staff draft for discussion of a potential rule has been informally circulated by CDOS that would attempt to remedy the violation by overriding the current Colorado Constitution and Statutes regarding voter anonymity, sunshine, and election oversight. I have attached this document – “DRAFT CORA for Voted Ballots” -- which we strongly disapprove.
2. Nobody has been identified as the CDOS person responsible for processing this complaint, or a schedule for handling this .
3. We have heard that the secret Colorado County Clerks Association has hired a Lobbyist that is interacting with Legislators behind closed doors.
4. The charges in the complaint are not disputable, and at least this fact should have been publicly acknowledged by now.
· Charge #1 -- Some Colorado County Clerks have implemented an election system that enables election officials, and perhaps others, to determine which voter cast a specific vote and/or a specific ballot. For example see Doyle Charts enclosed.
· Charge #2 -- The Colorado Department of State has not prohibited the use of these election systems.
Clerks are attempting to defend their defective election systems from public inspection. There are many reasons for this including, (i) the end-to-end systems were not acceptance tested as required by law, (ii) the voting equipment was not properly certified, (iii) there are reports from all over the country documenting voting equipment defects in both function and security, (iv) the Clerks have made an investment in defective systems that may be decertified if public oversight is able to prove specific defects – such as the voting rights violation in complaint #00-11-0010, and (v) some clerks may fear embarrassment if malfunctioning voting equipment and process controls are documented. We do not know what role the equipment vendors play, if any, in these back room secret discussions.
It is vital that we protect our constitutional guarantee to an anonymous vote/ballot. The clerks efforts to legalize the capture of data that can break this physical protection of anonymity (not based on trust) must not be permitted to succeed.
It is vital that we protect our statutory guarantee of public oversight of every step of the election process. The clerks find it threatening for watchers to actually see and hear what is needed to challenge voter eligibility, challenge vote interpretation, challenge vote counts, and to inspect (and analyze) the records and files created for and by an election. Clerks even work to neutralize canvass boards, audit teams, and logic and accuracy testers.
The public needs to understand the vital role of absolutely anonymous votes/ballots in the public oversight of elections.
Election officials need to design systems that enable maximum timely and affordable pubic oversight of every election process and record.
Al Kolwicz
Colorado Voter Group
http://www.ColoradoVoterGroup.org
2867 Tincup Circle
Boulder, CO 80305
303-494-1540
AlKolwicz@qwest.net
From: Andrew Cole [mailto:Andrew.Cole@SOS.STATE.CO.US]
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2011 4:57 PM
To: 'AlKolwicz@qwest.net'
Cc: Richard Coolidge
Subject: RE: CORA - Complaint procedures - Nov 28, 2011
Mr. Kolwicz,
[Click] Attached are the records responsive to your request. Please let me know if you have any questions or need anything further.
Best,
Andrew
Andrew Cole
Communications and Policy Advisor
Office of the Secretary of State
1700 Broadway, Ste 200
Denver, CO 80290
(303) 869-4908
http://www.sos.state.co.us/
From: AlKolwicz [mailto:alkolwicz@hotmail.com]
Sent: Monday, November 28, 2011 9:27 AM
To: Scott Gessler; Richard Coolidge
Cc: 'Colorado Voter Group'; Dana Williams
Subject: CORA - Complaint procedures - Nov 28, 2011
CORA – Complaint procedures - Nov 28, 2011
Mr. Scott Gessler
Colorado Secretary of State
Dear Mr. Gessler:
This s a request to inspect the following records, if they exist, covered under the Colorado Records Act C.R.S. 24-72. It will expedite this matter if you will email these records to us at AlKolwicz@qwest.net .
1. Colorado Department of State policies, procedures, standards and rules for receiving, addressing, and documenting election complaints.
2. Election complaints log, or other record of submissions, for the years 2008-2011, documenting complaints formally and informally submitted.
3. Colorado Department of State policies for addressing complaints that are filed against the Colorado Department of State and/or the Secretary of State, in particular regarding potential “conflict of interest”.
If you deny access to any of the above public records, please provide a written statement of the grounds for the denial, citing the law or regulation under which access is denied as required by C.R.S. § 24-72-204(4).
Please do not exceed any billable cost in excess of $50.00 without first obtaining our authorization.
Please contact me if you have any questions regarding the records we seek.
Al Kolwicz
Colorado Voter Group
2867 Tincup Circle
Boulder, CO 80305
303-494-1540
AlKolwicz@qwest.net
www.ColoradoVoterGroup.org
http://coloradovoter.blogspot.com
A dedicated group of volunteers who are working to ensure that every eligible voter gets to vote once, every eligible vote is counted once, and that every ballot is secure and anonymous.
From: Andrew Cole [mailto:Andrew.Cole@SOS.STATE.CO.US]
Sent: Tuesday, November 29, 2011 4:57 PM
To: 'AlKolwicz@qwest.net'
Cc: Richard Coolidge
Subject: RE: CORA - Status of Complaint #00-11-0010 Voting Rights Violation - Nov 28, 2011
Mr. Kolwicz,
[Click] Attached are the records responsive to your request. Please let me know if you have any questions or need anything further.
Best,
Andrew
Andrew Cole
Communications and Policy Advisor
Office of the Secretary of State
1700 Broadway, Ste 200
Denver, CO 80290
(303) 869-4908
http://www.sos.state.co.us/
From: AlKolwicz [mailto:alkolwicz@hotmail.com]
Sent: Monday, November 28, 2011 9:39 AM
To: Scott Gessler; Richard Coolidge
Cc: 'Colorado Voter Group'; Dana Williams
Subject: CORA - Status of Complaint #00-11-0010 Voting Rights Violation - Nov 28, 2011
CORA – Status of Complaint #00-11-0010 - Nov 28, 2011
Mr. Scott Gessler
Colorado Secretary of State
Colorado Department of State
Dear Mr. Gessler:
This s a request to inspect the following records, if they exist, covered under the Colorado Records Act C.R.S. 24-72. It will expedite this matter if you will email these records to us at AlKolwicz@qwest.net .
1. All records related to Election Complaint #00-11-0010 – Voting Rights Violation including emails, calendars, notes, correspondence, assignments, remedies considered, and communications with: (i) County Clerks and their representatives, (2) legislators and their representatives, and (iii) the press.
If you deny access to any of the above public records, please provide a written statement of the grounds for the denial, citing the law or regulation under which access is denied as required by C.R.S. § 24-72-204(4).
Please do not exceed any billable cost in excess of $50.00 without first obtaining our authorization.
Please contact me if you have any questions regarding the records we seek.
Al Kolwicz
Colorado Voter Group
2867 Tincup Circle
Boulder, CO 80305
303-494-1540
AlKolwicz@qwest.net
www.ColoradoVoterGroup.org
http://coloradovoter.blogspot.com
A dedicated group of volunteers who are working to ensure that every eligible voter gets to vote once, every eligible vote is counted once, and that every ballot is secure and anonymous.