Defendants
Gessler, Hall,
Reno, and
Simonton response
due August 24
August
20, Aspen, CO--On
August 17 Citizen
Center filed a
motion for a
Temporary
Restraining Order in
the Citizen
Center v
Gessler, et al. litigation
asking the court
to prohibit
Secretary of State
Gessler's and the
Boulder,
Robert
McGuire, of McGuire
Baines, LLC,
attorney for Citizen
Center remarked,
"With a mere seven
weeks to go before
ballots have to be
printed for this
year's presidential
election, this may
be Colorado's last
chance to avert a
head-on
constitutional
collision that could
have national
consequences."
"The
Colorado
Supreme Court has
ruled in
no uncertain terms
that an election in
which all ballots
are traceable back
to their voters is a
void election. No
wiggle room, no
exceptions. That
means every race on
the ballot this
November, from dog
catcher all the way
up to president,
will be in jeopardy
of being thrown out
if this illegal
practice of printing
unique, traceable
numbers and barcodes
on Colorado ballots
isn't stopped."
Marilyn
Marks, founder of
Citizen Center,
commented, "When
this lawsuit began
in February, it was
based on unaddressed
complaints filed
with Secretary
Gessler's office
last fall. Ballots
with barcodes
traceable to the
voters are standard
in at least 44
counties in
Colorado. Boulder,
Chaffee, and Eagle
Clerks claimed
that any
traceability
issues were
resolved earlier
this year, yet an
analysis of June's
voted ballots
belies those
disingenuous
assertions."
As
recently as
mid-June, Secretary
Gessler's
office issued a
letter
to Colorado election
officials supporting
the use of unique
barcodes on the
ballots as
"statewide policy"
and offered to
engage in litigation
support to "defend"
this policy. This
letter was
consistent with
Secretary Gessler's
statement that he
believes that there
is no federal
constitutional right
to a secret ballot.
Gessler's
office acknowledged
last fall that
they had been aware
of the traceable
ballot issue for
some time and wanted
to address it by
requiring that
government insiders
keep this
information for
themselves but
conceal it from the
public. Indeed,
Gessler supported
House Bill 12-1036,
now troublesome law,
that permits
election officials
to remove traceable
barcodes from ballot
copies before
sharing voted
ballots with the
press and public,
although no such
traceable ballots
should ever exist.
Citizen Center
insists that all
ballots should be
untraceable and
anonymous when
cast.
Citizen
Center obtained
copies of Chaffee
County's June
ballots, and the
code that correlates
the barcode on the
ballot with the
voter's name was
easily determined,
according to Marks.
"The code for
Republican ballots
is consistent,
allowing anyone with
access to public
election records to
do the simple
arithmetic to pull
up a scanned copy of
any individual
Republican voter's
ballot. The code
used for tracking
Democratic ballots
is more obscure. The
horrendous,
long-used but
concealed coding of
ballots with data
matrix and barcode
technology has been
exposed for what it
is, and voters are
rebelling, as they
should be. No one,
particularly the
government, should
have access to
information on how
an individual
voted."
Citizen
Center also reported
the ability to use
the Eagle County
Clerk's June ballots
and ballot printer's
files to trace the
individual barcoded
ballots back to
Eagle County's
voters through a
simple table
correlating the
ballot stub number
to the barcode. This
evidence is
consistent with
Eagle Clerk
Simonton's
long-standing policy
to prevent
authorized election
watchers from
closely observing
ballot counting and
auditing. In
September 2010
Simonton prohibited
Marilyn Marks from
verifying
tabulations in the
2010 primary
election. Simonton
used the rationale
that the ballots
were traceable to
the individual voter
and only political
insiders should have
access.
Boulder
County has refused
the litigation
requirements to
produce copies of
Boulder's 2012 voted
ballots with the
barcode numbers
intact. Hall
withheld the ballots
filing objections
that analysts may be
able to connect the
voter and the
ballot.
McGuire
added, "Our
Constitution
guarantees us the
right to freely vote
our conscience. But
how can that right
be meaningfully be
exercised when we
know that the
government--and
potentially anyone
else with access to
government
records--can
basically put
themselves right
there in the voting
booth with us just
by snooping in the
right electronic
files? That's not
the kind of
'democracy' I
thought I grew up
in--it's something
new and sinister,
and it needs to be
stopped. "
The
court ordered the
defendants to
respond by Friday,
August 24.
Citizen
Center is a
non-partisan
non-profit
organization focused
on government
transparency with a
particular specialty
in election
integrity. More
information may be
found on the website
www.TheCitizenCenter.org.
