Denver looking for 11,000 missing mail ballots By <http://www.rockymountainnews.com/staff/myung-oak-kim/>Myung Oak Kim, Rocky Mountain News (<http://www.rockymountainnews.com/staff/myung-oak-kim/contact/>Contact)
Published October 24, 2008 at 8:02 p.m. Updated October 24, 2008 at 9:22 p.m. http://www.rockymountainnews.com/news/2008/oct/24/denver-looking-11000-missing-mail-ballots/ Denver elections officials are trying to determine what happened to more than 11,000 mail ballots that are unaccounted for. The U.S. Postal Service said Friday afternoon that its Denver mail processing facility received 10,364 ballots on Oct. 16 and delivered them within a couple days. But the California printing company hired by Denver Elections said it delivered 21,450 ballots to the postal facility on that date. The discrepancy has prompted Denver Election Director Michael Scarpello to ask Sequoia Voting Systems to give him paperwork to prove that the Porterville, Calif., printing plant shipped the ballots. "Certainly we're concerned and we're wanting to get to the bottom of it," Scarpello said Friday night. "I don't think we've seen overwhelming evidence to prove one theory or the other. "My advice to people would be to hang tight for another couple of days." The news comes amid mounting complaints by Denver voters who had yet to receive their ballots as of Friday despite computer tracking records that say the ballots were sent on Oct. 15. Hugh Duval, 85, of southeast Denver, is one of these voters. He said he's been frustrated and worried about not getting his and his wife's ballots. "It's kind of worn me down thinking I won't be able to vote," Duval said. "This is a mess." The problem centers around a batch of ballots that were supposed to have been dropped off on Oct. 15 at the Denver General Mail Facility at 7500 E. 53rd Place. A spokesperson for Sequoia could not be reached for comment. Postal Service spokesman Al DeSarro said his office has delivered all ballots they received. Scarpello said he is certain that his office sent the correct number of voter files to the printer and the problem appears to be either at the printer or at the post office. Denver elections workers and other metro area elections offices have been swamped in the last month processing tens of thousands of voter registration forms and mail ballot applications. More than 180,000 Denver voters have requested mail ballots. A record 1.5 million voters statewide have requested to vote by mail and that number keeps growing. Voters have until Oct. 28 to request a mail ballot. Mail voting began Oct. 6. The largest wave of ballots were sent to voters around Oct. 8 and clerks have since been sending more ballots in response to additional requests. In large counties like Denver, clerks send computer files of voter information to printing companies, either in Colorado or out-of-state. Several of the largest counties use Sequoia's California plant. The printer prepares the ballots and ships them to postal service processing facilities in Colorado for distribution. County clerks save money on postage by sending mail ballots in large batches. When early voting began statewide on Oct. 20, many voters showed at Denver polling places complaining about not receiving their mail ballots. County clerks have been making public pleas for patience. --~--~---------~--~----~------------~-------~--~----~ You received this message because you are subscribed to Mark Crispin Miller's "News From Underground" newsgroup. To unsubscribe, send a blank email to [EMAIL PROTECTED] OR go to http://groups.google.com/group/newsfromunderground and click on the "Unsubscribe or change membership" link in the yellow bar at the top of the page, then click the "Unsubscribe" button on the next page. For more News From Underground, visit http://markcrispinmiller.com -~----------~----~----~----~------~----~------~--~---
