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October 25, 2001
By Gail Binkly An unknown number of persons received duplicate mail ballots in the sanitation district’s recall election, but that and some problems with the ballot’s instructions should not invalidate the vote, according to officials. "People cannot vote twice and, if they do, it will be caught," said Deputy Clerk Carol Tullis. She said the return envelopes carry bar-coded return-address labels and if two ballots arrive from the same person, the clerk’s office, which is tabulating the results, will catch the problem. "It’s against the law to vote two ballots," she added. At least four persons, all living on County Road 25.4, received duplicate ballots. Pat Boots and his wife, Kay, received theirs Tuesday. They said they contacted the office of Kent Williamson, the appointed election official for the recall and the sanitation district’s attorney, to inform him of the error. They also called the Journal, and Kay Boots opened her ballots in the presence of a reporter and photographer Tuesday. Their neighbor, Joe Voorheis, also received duplicate ballots Tuesday. His wife, Susan, received one ballot on Tuesday and a second on Wednesday, according to Boots. Voters in the sanitation district are deciding whether to recall or retain any or all of three district-board members: Stan Pierce, Jim Bridgewater and Sam Jarvis. They are also choosing three of five potential replacement candidates in case any of the members are recalled. Tullis said when the ballots come in to her office, they are logged by the name as having been returned. "If a second one comes in later, you’re going to be alerted, ‘Hey, I’ve already got another ballot back from him.’ "We check the label against the name, so if we get two of the same ballots, probably neither one will be counted," she said. If someone tried to vote twice by tearing off the return-address label, the ballot would be questioned because of the tampering, she said. If someone tried to use another person’s name on one ballot, "they will be perjuring themselves if they sign the back (of the envelope) in someone else’s name." "People are only entitled to vote one time," agreed Williamson, who said he had been informed of only one duplicate ballot. He said the duplicate ballots should not invalidate the election because of the fact that any double voting would be caught. The problem arose because of different lists of eligible voters in the sanitation district, Williamson said. Persons living in the district are eligible, as well as other Colorado electors who don’t live in the district but own property there under their own names. "Apparently what happened was the registration list they gave us from the clerk’s office, when they printed the labels for us the computer had a few additional names that were not on our own registration list. We cross-matched the lists but not the labels, so there were some names among the labels that were not on the list they gave us that came out of the computer." Tullis said the duplicate ballots were" basically a human error." "There’s tons of scenarios," she said. "Some people own multiple properties with different people and it’s very difficult sometimes to catch them all." Other callers to the Journal Friday expressed concern over other aspects of the ballot — such as the fact that the instruction sheet included with the ballot makes no mention of putting a birth date on the return envelope. However, the front of the envelope carries a notice that states: "Important! Failure to include your signature and birth date on the back of envelope will invalidate your ballot." There is, however, no designated space for the birth date on the back of the envelope. "We did tell the printer we wanted a place for the date of birth," Tullis said. "There’s a place that says date, and most people probably think it means the date they signed the envelope. But they can write it under their name or in the space that says date, or above that date." Williamson said votes should not be invalidated just because someone did not put his or her birth date on the return envelope. "I don’t believe that’s correct. It should be no problem." The voter’s date of birth is already logged in at the clerk’s office, Tullis noted. Voters should be aware, however, that the ballot and return envelope weigh more than one ounce and require extra postage (for a total of 57 cents), although there is no mention of this in the instructions. Voters can also take the ballots themselves to ballot boxes at either the clerk’s office in the county courthouse, 109 W. Main St., or Williamson’s office, 215 N. Linden. If a ballot is returned to the sender for insufficient postage, the voter can resend it or bring it to the ballot boxes directly, Williamson said. Anyone who is eligible to vote in the election but has not received a ballot should contact the clerk’s office or Williamson. The ballots list each incumbent individually, with a list of the five replacement candidates under each incumbent. Voters should mark yes or no on whether to recall each of the incumbents, and select one name of the five in each column, Tullis said. The top vote-getters among the replacement candidates will take the seats of any incumbents who are recalled — if any are recalled, Williamson said.
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Copyright © 2001 the Cortez
Journal. All rights reserved. |
