Ensuring a Fair and Accurate Vote

By Donetta Davidson

Colorado Secretary of State

October 29, 2004

Media reports of possible voter registration fraud have many Coloradans concerned and wondering if they will have problems voting in this election. As Colorado Secretary of State, I want to assure voters that the vast majority of electors will be able to cast their votes without any problem if they take their identification with them to the polling place.

There are procedures in place to assist the small percentage of voters who may need to update or correct problems that have arisen as a result of illegal acts by third party registration collectors. I am leading the effort, along with help from the CBI, the Attorney General’s office, district attorneys, and clerks of each county, to ensure the integrity of the registration and voting process will not be impacted.

County clerks in Colorado and across the country face the challenge of following new, stringent federal guidelines contained in the "Help America Vote Act," which were designed to ensure a fair elections process. Colorado clerks must also follow specific state election laws passed by the legislature and rules set forth by the Secretary of State. Their challenges have been enormous and they are working extremely hard at dealing with the sizable influx of voter registrations, while also purging duplicate registrations, ineligible voters and deceased individuals from voter rolls.

If you believe you have registered, but your name does not appear on the voter rolls, you will be allowed to vote with a provisional ballot after answering a few questions from the election judge to prevent voter fraud. You will also be allowed to vote with a provisional ballot if you do not have proper ID or if you requested an absentee ballot and did not return it. Provisional ballots will be crosschecked by our county clerks and counted only after regular and absentee ballots have been tallied. The law allows 10 days following the election to process absentee ballots, 10 days to receive overseas and UOCAVA ballots and 12 days to count provisional ballots.

Please remember to bring your identification, ideally a photo ID, to the polls. Thousands of Coloradans have already taken advantage of early voting and you can too through Friday, October 29th. To avoid the last minute rush on Election Day, Tuesday November 2, vote early in the day. If you have any questions, please contact your county clerk and recorder or visit our Web site, www.sos.state.co.us. Colorado voters can be assured that their vote will be counted, and their vote will count.