Tuesday
Apr092013

Citizen Center Sues Town of Center to Overturn Flawed Election

Voters’ Rights to Secret Ballot Violated by Officials 

April 9, 2013 (Aspen, Colorado)—Citizen Center filed an election contest yesterday as a co-plaintiff seeking to set aside the March 19 Center, Colorado, special recall election. The suit focuses on breakdowns in critical election procedures and a surprising violation of voters’ constitutional rights to cast a secret ballot.

Maurice (Moe) Jones, a recalled town trustee, is the lead plaintiff in the case, which was filed in Saguache state district court against the Town of Center, its clerk, and the three new Town trustees.

“It is impossible to determine who actually won this election, given the massive breakdown in basic procedures. Of approximately 480 ballots cast, 301 absentee ballots were hand delivered with no record of who delivered them, a procedure that invites abuse. The votes on 364 of the ballots were counted in violation of the voters’ right to a secret ballot. This abuse of voter privacy is intolerable anywhere in Colorado, but it’s especially troubling in Center, with its continuing reports of voter intimidation and undue influence,” Marilyn Marks, President of Citizen Center, stated.

Moe Jones was hesitant to bring this case but thought he owed it to the Town: “I reluctantly sued my hometown in this community-supported action to rid the town of election mal-conduct that has plagued the Town of Center for years. We demand that every citizen must have an equal and private voice in an election. Unfortunately, some local activists who crave power have schemed to undermine the most basic value in our democracy—the equal power of each citizen at the polls to vote their own conscience. I call on every citizen of Center to use this opportunity to demand their rights to fair elections. We will not allow any special interest group to control our Center elections. Only the true will of the voters will control the results of our elections.”

Jeff Baines, of McGuire Baines LLC in Denver, counsel for Jones and Citizen Center, pointed out that “Colorado’s election laws are not mere suggestions for clerks” and that “enforcing strict compliance with these laws means that citizens can trust government without doing so blindly.”

Jones and Citizen Center allege that intermingling of legally and illegally cast ballots means that it is now impossible to determine the true outcome of the election. Thus the election must be redone. 

Marks stated, “It is particularly disappointing that Town Clerk Samora and Municipal Judge Sanchez certified the election despite repeated complaints of election law violations. People present at the March 29th recount noted flawed  ballot custody, questionable signatures, voter eligibility challenges, and multiple ballots voted with the same pen and similar marks. The clerk and judge were fully authorized to demand and inspect all evidence concerning any ballot, yet did nothing to investigate. This election felt more like a coup than an American town election.”

Citizen Center believes that it was incumbent on Clerk Samora and Judge Sanchez to recognize that the election was too flawed to certify. Marks believes they had a duty to go to court themselves and request that the election be set aside. They could have called for a new election that would be properly conducted. Such responsible action would have been the fair and just thing to do and would have avoided this lawsuit.

Documents:

Complaint: _http://www.thecitizencenter.org/storage/20130408%20Verified%20Filing%20Stmt%20and%20Complaint.pdf

Exhibit A http://www.thecitizencenter.org/storage/20130408%20Ex%20A%20to%20Verified%20Complaint.pdf

 B http://www.thecitizencenter.org/storage/20130408%20Ex%20B%20to%20Verified%20Complaint.pdf

http://www.thecitizencenter.org/storage/20130408%20Ex%20C%20pages%201-2%20%20to%20Verified%20Complaint.pdf

D http://www.thecitizencenter.org/storage/20130408%20Ex%20D%20to%20Verified%20Complaint.pdf

E http://www.thecitizencenter.org/storage/20130408%20Ex%20F%20to%20Verified%20Complaint.pdf

Wednesday
Apr032013

SOS HEARING ---HAVA complaint

Sunday
Mar102013

Meet Boulder County's famous RoboJudge from November's election

Meet Boulder County's RoboJudge 

Boulder County voters familiar with November's many election controversies concerning the signature-verification problems with 130,000 mail-in ballots have heard much about the $200,000 Bell & Howell machine used to process envelopes, signatures, and voter records. But few people have met the RoboJudge that took the place of human election judges who had performed this verification work in the past. Here's your chance to meet the pricey robot, now residing in Boulder's election center.

Human election judge, authorized watcher, and recently retired engineer Jim August delivered a compelling argument to Boulder's County Commissioners to send RoboJudge to the scrap heap and

Click to read more ...

Thursday
Feb282013

SOS Hearing--Provisional Ballots and Watcher Rights 2.28.13

Presentation Materials SOS Hearing--

These materials were presented at the Secretary of State hearing regarding watcher and public access to provisoinal ballots and their applications.

http://www.thecitizencenter.org/storage/_Petition%20for%20SOS%20Declaratory%20Order.pdf

 I (Marilyn Marks) had requested that the SOS provide any materials that the SOS would discuss at the hearing and was told that there were none. However, during the hearing, Election Director Judd Choate began to reference data collected from other states on their purported reading of HAVA to ban

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Sunday
Feb242013

Assault on Civic Engagement-- The Public Information Tax

The most regressive public policy proposal to come out of the Colorado capitol in years is Senator Kefalas's "citizens-be-damned" bill to impose significant fees on citizens seeking public information. It is a direct assault on the public's right to be informed about activities of  their goverment.

This video spoofs the bill's impact, but it's not hard to imagine the troublesome realities in your hometown.

Research Fees -- The New Tax 

"Research fees" for public records are not authorized by Colorado statute. Most local governments do not currently charge such fees for records review. Bill 1041 mandates a drastic change to begin imposing research fees on citizens unless waived. 

The default setting for cash-strapped governments such as school boards, state agencies, fire

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