With such a lengthy ballot and concerns over computerized voting machines, numerous worrywarts have suggested that Coloradans cast their ballots early through absentee voting. Even the executive director of the Denver Election Commission, John Gaydeski, has encouraged this gambit, noting the state’s general election ballot will be the longest in nearly 100 years.
So it is with a mixture of irony and dread that we note the bungling that has marred the absentee ballots. Some 44,000 Denver ballots contain serious flaws.
First, Denver’s voting-machine vendor, Sequoia Voting Systems, somehow managed to reverse the “yes” and “no” boxes on the Referendum F question. The box voters would normally check to vote “yes” now says “no” on that one question.
Proofs of the ballot sent to Sequoia for printing apparently did not have the problem, so the company has agreed to mail a letter alerting voters.
Then the commission learned that the absentee ballots mistakenly instruct voters to put an insufficient amount of postage on their return envelopes. The ballot weighs 2.3 ounces and needs 87 cents postage, not the 63 cents voters are told to affix.
The U.S. Postal Service says it’ll deliver all the return ballots no matter how much postage is on the envelope.
Sequoia has accepted responsibility for these mistakes and is working to correct them at their expense, which is good. But the mishaps are sure to make voters suspicious or nervous about the credibility of the election process.
We hope the problems don’t discourage voters from casting ballots, but Colorado voters – and not just those in Denver – need to take great care when voting. Once upon a time, that meant curling up with an election guide and studying the issues and the candidates.
Today it also means staying extra alert during the voting process to ensure that your vote is properly recorded.
