A mailer by a political action committee supporting congressional candidate Peggy Lamm displays the birth dates of potential voters, raising identity-theft concerns.
“We are very concerned,” Wayne Munster, the secretary of state’s deputy director of elections, said Thursday.
He said 14 people who received the mailer have registered complaints.
“One citizen called me and said that with that information, someone could get a driver’s license or perhaps a checking account,” Munster said. “We don’t know if that is true, but it is a concern.”
Emily’s List has sent three mailings in support of Lamm. On the back of those is an absentee ballot already filled out with the potential voter’s name, address and date of birth.
“We do not condone anyone doing that but the elector,” Munster said. “It was not secured. It was open for anybody to see that information.”
In March, Gov. Bill Owens signed into law legislation barring elections officials from releasing the birth date of an individual, although those officials still are allowed to release the year of birth.
Karen White, the national political director for Emily’s List, said the group complied with all of the secretary of state’s requirements. While it may be illegal for a campaign official to release the date of birth of a potential voter, nothing prohibits the mailing of that information if it is already in the public domain, she said.
Lamm’s campaign director, Jim Merlino, said the candidate never reviewed the literature before its mailing.
“It was not from the Lamm campaign,” he said. “Still, this mailer has a lot of good information on Peggy Lamm.”
Lamm, a former state representative, is locked in a tight three-way primary in the 7th Congressional District with former state Sen. Ed Perl mutter and Herb Rubenstein, an adjunct professor of entrepreneurship at Colorado State University.
Campaign finance reports filed Thursday show Perlmutter still leads in fundraising, collecting a little more than $1 million, compared with Lamm’s $700,000 and Rubenstein’s $66,000.
Headed into the final stretch before the Aug. 8 primary, Perlmutter has $250,000 cash on hand, while Lamm has about $231,388. Rubenstein reported $2,506 left in the bank.
Lamm’s top expenditure was $25,547 for a direct mailing, while Perlmutter said he had spent $58,285 to develop electronic media.
Meanwhile, the lone Republican, Rick O’Donnell, continued to build his war chest for the general election, having raised a total of $1.8 million, with $1.3 million on hand.
Once the primary is over, Democrats are expected to funnel money from the national party to the race. Already, the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee has announced that it plans to buy television advertising for whoever becomes the Democratic nominee.
Staff writer Christopher N. Osher can be reached at 303-820-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com.
