The Denver Election Commission’s latest blooper – exceeding its budget by $400,000 – only underscores how much the panel is in need of reform.
We cringed when elections manager Karon Hatchett said during the summer that the “commission is prepared (for November). It’s business as usual.” And so it was: An extra $43,396 was paid out for a mailing after material was omitted from the voters guide. Also, the commission had to rectify the failure to print Spanish-language provisional ballots. Qué relevación!
The embattled commission had whined that May’s special election drove up costs. But who’s to blame for that? After initially planning an all-mail election, the commission shifted gears and reverted to precinct voting, costing $400,000 more.
Innovation seems to scare the commission: It originally planned to use centers where voters could cast ballots anywhere in the city tomorrow but then reverted to the same precinct voting system used in 2004 when 40 percent of all voting problems in Colorado occurred in Denver.
This litany of blunders is what led City Council President Rosemary Rodriguez – a former Denver clerk and recorder – to propose scrapping the commission, made up of the clerk appointed by the mayor and two elected commissioners. It was created a century ago as a clean-government measure. Rodriguez thinks Denver, like all other Colorado counties, should have an elected clerk and recorder.
Rodriguez withdrew her plan, saying it needed broader support, which is to say it needed the mayor’s support. Now Rodriguez says the “first order of business” after tomorrow’s vote will be to work with Mayor John Hickenlooper to form a study group.
That’s a good idea – it provides a forum for alternative ways to reform or ditch the Denver Election Commission. The city owes it to the voters to make sure elections are held without undue problems.
