Tale of Tally: Voters Gave Up
Denver completes count after 2 weeks
By Christopher N. Osher | Denver Post Staff Writer
The Denver Post
POSTED: 11/22/2006 01:00:00 AM MST
UPDATED: 11/24/2006 08:33:44 AM MST
Denver finally finished counting its votes Tuesday,
confirming that about 20,000 fewer people voted in
Denver than officials had expected.
The final count came exactly two weeks after an
Election Day so troubled that officials are consider-
ing an overhaul.
An analysis of past voting trends indicates a sizable
number of voters, confronted with lines that took up
to three hours to get through, likely gave up and
went home.
"We're not going to pretend that people didn't leave
without voting, because they did," said Alton Dillard
II, the Denver Election Commission's communica-
tions director.
There's no way to know exactly how many voters
were affected, but when compared with past guber-
natorial races, it's clear the Denver vote came up
short.
In 2002 and 1998, when there were gubernatorial
races, voter turnout exceeded 65 percent of those
registered. This election, 58.6 percent voted, a total
turnout of 160,388.
"I think people were discouraged when they saw the
news accounts and they saw the actual lines," said
Councilwoman Rosemary Rodriguez, who is pushing
to scrap the current three-member commission and
place Denver elections under a single elected clerk
and recorder. "But I hope it wasn't almost a third of
the total vote cast (on Election Day). That would just
break my heart."
One of those frustrated by the Election Day debacle
was Marcia Currier, a resident of the Bowmar
Heights neighborhood.
She said her Election Day travails were plagued by a
lack of parking and long waits. She tried four times
to vote but gave up because of waits exceeding an
hour. Everywhere she went, she saw people leaving
vote centers in frustration. Finally, on the way home
from work, she voted on her fifth try.
She said that in the future she'll mail in an absentee
ballot.
"It's kind of a right to me that I should be able to
vote on Election Day as a celebration of being a citi-
zen of the United States," she said. "Otherwise, why
have Election Day?"
Mark Cavanaugh, co-director of Fair Vote Colorado,
a nonprofit voter-assistance program, is compiling a
report on the Election Day problems to assist offi-
cials.
He said more than 90 percent of the calls Fair Vote
Colorado logged on Election Day came from frus-
trated Denver citizens. Fair Vote helped shepherd
those voters, as much as possible, to other vote cen-
ters with more reasonable delays.
"Before the big presidential election in '08, we have
this two-year, tiny window to regain voter confi-
dence, because it's voter confidence that has really
been shaken by this," Cavanaugh said.
Still sorting through the Election Day returns were
two candidates for the board of regents of the Uni-
versity of Colorado. Stephen Ludwig, the Democratic
candidate, said Tuesday's Denver results left him a
likely winner. The latest numbers had him leading
Republican Brian Davidson by more than 4,000
votes.
He said a recount likely will be triggered under a
state law because of the slim margin.
He said that if Denver had been running optimally,
the recount likely wouldn't be needed because he
was handily winning there.
"The Denver situation, if we get into a recount, could
cost every county in the state because they're forced
to do a recount on a statewide race," said Ludwig. "It
makes everyone look bad."
In the race for secretary of state, Democrat Ken
Gordon said the lower-than-usual Denver turnout
likely didn't affect his race, since the margin of his
opponent's victory exceeded 20,000 votes. Gordon
carried Denver with about 70 percent.
Still, watching voters in Denver on Election Day was
"horrifying to me," Gordon said.
"Usually, you know when you lost because you see it Democrats will control the Colorado House with a
on election night, but I knew I lost because of the 13-seat majority.
long lines I was seeing," he said.
Staff writer Christopher N. Osher can be reached at 303-
The Preschool Matters tax increase to fund preschool 954-1747 or cosher@denverpost.com.
education passed by 1,815 votes - garnering barely
more than 50 percent of the vote. The measure,
known as 1A, adds 12 cents in sales tax to every This story has been corrected in this online archive.
$100 in purchases to help parents pay for preschool. Originally, due to an editing error, this story originally
said Democratic University of Colorado Board of Re-
In other election-related news, Jefferson County fin-
gents candidate Stephen Ludwig was trailing Bruce Da-
ished counting ballots Tuesday in House District 27.
vidson. The latest numbers show Ludwig is leading Da-
Democrat Sara Gagliardi beat Republican incumbent
vidson by more than 4,000 votes.
Bill Crane by 111 votes, said Susan Miller, Jefferson
County elections director. That difference was not
enough to trigger a recount, she said.
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SOURCE:
http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_4702680
Accessed July 10, 2010