HomeMy WebLinkAbout1983-05-23 Memo RE- Election Discrepancies•
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M E M 0 R A N D U M
TO: Andy Mccown, City Manager
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FROM: Gary Higbee, Director ~1~J;lvtJ DATE: May 23, 1983
SUBJEC T: Election, May 17, 1983
Mr. Jim Thomas, an Englewood citizen, has questioned a facet of the
administration of the election.
His review of the poll books and vote~abstracts show the following:
Precinct
2
3
6
9
13
Number in Poll Book
167
134
121
106
189
Number Voted
166
131
120
104
188
The totals show a difference of eight (8) between those that signed
in to vote and those that actually cut votes.
There are three reasons that could account for the difference.
1. A voter enters the voting machine and does not vote.
2. A voter enters the voting machine and does not pull the voting
lever all the way.
3. A voter enters the voting m?.chine and pulls the lever and then
returns the lever to its original position thinking that by do-
ing so the vote has been registered. This is a lack of under-
standing by the voter of the voting machine procedure. In the
opinion of the County voting machine custodian, this is the
most prelavent cause for this type of discrepancy in voters and
votes cast.
We have checked with the judges of some of the precincts in ques-
tion to see if they might be able to account for the difference.
Only one possible vote could be accounted for. A voter entered the
voting machine and came out saying they thought this was the place
to vote for the Denver mayor .
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Andy Mccown, City Manager
Election, May 17, 1983
May 23, 1983
Page 2
The election process has some built in safeguards which are there
to help insure the integrity of the election process:
1. The election is administered by the citizenry -the Election
Commission is composed of fellow citizens and the election
judges and citizens. They are selected on a non-partisan
basis.
2. The judges are required to attend a meeting just before the
election. The purpose of this meeting is to review election
procedures. This meeting is conducted by the City Clerk's
office.
3. Poll Watchers are permitted and encouraged to be present at
the voting locations. The poll watchers represent the vari-
ous candidates or sides of a question. Their purpose is to
watch the activity at the polls to insure that everything
is done according to law and procedures. They are also there
to verify the counts of the votes after the polls close.
In this past election, there were no poll watchers. Both sides of
this question should have had representatives at the polls. Doing
this would have dispelled some of the current controversy.
/jlw