CCvotes

The band played on (they even played inside until being asked to leave)

Update Oct 31

A federal judge took a swipe at an "obdurate" Secretary of State Mike Coffman this afternoon by ordering Colorado’s top election official to stop violating federal law by purging voters.

The Advancement Project, a voter protection organization, filed suitagainst Coffman late last week for canceling as many 30,000 voters within 90 days of the federal election, a breach of the National Voter Registration Act. Coffman’s office settled with the Advancement Project late Wednesday evening, agreeing to let purged individuals vote by provisional ballot. But he has removed an additional 146 voters from the rolls since then.

The Advancement Project hauled Coffman back to court this afternoon after the secretary told the Rocky Mountain News that he was still purging voters. “The process is continuing” he said, adding that the plaintiffs, which included Colorado Common Cause, Mi Familia Vota and the Service Employees International Union, “did not prevail . . . in stopping us from moving forward with additional cancellation through this election.”

Not so fast, said U.S. District Court Judge John Kane this afternoon. He demanded that Coffman “cease and stop” purging voters immediately.

“I don’t think there is anything deliberate about this, but possibly something obdurate about the secretary’s comments” in the Rocky Mountain News, Kane said.

Jessie Allen, senior attorney with the Advancement Project, said she was “concerned that the defendant may not listen to his counsel” and continue canceling voters just days before the election.

“If the defendant is not listening to his counsel, he will be listening to me personally,” said Kane. “I don’t issue threats idly and I am not issuing a threat now. But I expect [the order] to be obeyed.”

Kane also told Coffman’s counsel, Deputy Attorney General Maurice Knaizer, to look into reinstating the 146 voters who have been purged in the last day and a half.

Jenny Flanagan, director of Colorado Common Cause, called today’s ruling “necessary and critical to protect our election.” She saidthe plaintiffs feared that Coffman might conduct mass purges before the election.

According to the initial complaint, the Colorado Republican Party requested an additional 17,000 duplicate registration records purged just last week. Even though Coffman told the Rocky Mountain News that he won’t do it because the election is too soon, today’s order has put those concerns to rest completely.

“You have Coffman grandstanding in the media, saying he is going to do whatever he wants anyway,” says Flanagan. “That is the outrageous part. We were concerned that Coffman would continue to ignore what the court was ordering and the protection that the voters were afforded.”

The Wednesday settlement — reached after eight hours of deliberation — allows purged individuals to vote by provisional ballot. These provisional ballots will be verified and counted before others in the two weeks after the election. Counties must “presume” these voters eligible or provide convincing proof that they are not in order to toss their ballots.

The secretary of state’s office cancels voters for many different reasons. Some newly registered voters are kicked off because the county can’t verify their addresses when registration cards bounce back to the clerks. Others are deleted because they have moved. And duplicate registrations are canceled as well.

But under federal law, the secretary of state is prohibited from removing voters within 90 days of an election unless that person has requested to be taken off, has died or has been convicted of a felony.

An ominous-sounding letter that El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Bob Balink sent to a journalism student at Colorado College has reignited a 3-week old controversy over his past erroneous assertion that out-of-state college students are not eligible to vote in Colorado.

In the latest controversy, Balink forwarded a letter to the CC student, written by an attorney whose firm has close ties to the Colorado Republican Party, warning of “cascading effects” that could happen if students vote in Colorado — including criminal penalties for not registering their cars in this state. Strong is an understatement for how Democratic elected officials and officers have responded, denouncing Balink for attempting to discourage students from voting.

“Just how much incompetence from Bob Balink are we going to put up with?” said an exasperated state Sen. John Morse, a Democrat from Colorado Springs, which is in El Paso County. “I’m sick and tired of this.”

Morse, along with other state Democratic Party officials, have scheduled a news conference for 11 a.m. Thursday in front of the clerk and recorder’s office in downtown Colorado Springs to denounce a letter that has been circulated by Balink about student voters as irresponsible and its message incorrect.

They are also planning to demand that Balink, who is active in El Paso County GOP politics and was a delegate to the Republican National Convention last month, disclose his “relationship” with the Denver law firm that prepared the letter.

Late Wednesday Matt Farrauto, the spokesman for the Colorado Democratic Party, called the letter “ominous, scary and intimidating” to students who have been planning to vote in Colorado. (The full text of the letter appears below, in blockquote.)

“When the clerk should be encouraging voter participation and registration, this raises red flags and serious concerns,” Farrauto said. “Given [Balink’s] past behavior and his stubbornness in regard to ensuring a smooth and open access to the electoral process, this is a problem.”

Three weeks ago Balink issued a correction to a claim sent to Colorado College officials earlier this year that out-of-state students at the liberal arts college may not be eligible to vote. Balink subsequently said it was a big mix-up, and that his office had misinterpreted state law.

However, Democratic officials, including Morse and state Party Chairwoman Pat Waak, scoffed at the explanation, noting that Balink’s letter had not been sent to the Air Force Academy, also in Colorado Springs and presumably with a far more conservative student population than that of Colorado College.

Colorado law allows anyone who is over 18 years old, has resided in the state for more than 30 days and is a legal citizen to register and vote.

Nearly two weeks after Balink’s mea culpa, and in response to student Tabitha Hrynick’s inquiry about that very issue, Balink forwarded Hrynick a letter that had been prepared by Erik Groves, an attorney at the Denver firm of Zakhem-Atherton LLC. The firm specializes in election law, and routinely represents Republican clients. One of the firm’s attorneys, Ryan Call, took a leave of absence in July and signed on to be the political director and in-house legal counsel for the state Republican Party.

In his letter — sent to the student by Balink — Groves provided an analysis of what happens when students vote in Colorado. Among his claims: Students who register in Colorado must “abandon” any prior residency in other states and makes their departure from their parents’ homes “permanent.” In addition, Groves claims that students who register and vote in Colorado could “jeopardize” their parents financially — and that they could face criminal charges if they don’t also obtain Colorado driver’s licenses and register their vehicles in Colorado.

“This is bullshit, and it’s not supported by law,” said Morse. Further, such advocacy stretches far beyond the purview of the clerk and recorder, Morse has said. Finally, late Wednesday afternoon the state senator wondered why Balink, in cash-strapped El Paso County, apparently hired a Denver law firm to provide legal analysis instead of consulting with the county’s own tax-paid attorney.

In recent weeks Balink, who oversees elections in Colorado’s most populated county, has also been the target of additional criticism, including his decision to slice in half — from six to three — the number of early voting centers in the 2,000-square-mile county.

Colorado College VOTES

Update Oct 31

Early Voting long lines