HomeMy WebLinkAbout1995-11-27 EC MEMOMEMORANDUM
TO : Mayor Burns
Englewood City Council Members
Englewood Election Comm~ssion ~
r
I
FROM : Loucrishia Ellis, City ClerW'
DATE :
Dan Brotzman, City Attor;f i~
November 27, 1995 ( l
REGARDING: Election 1995
In researching a Council question a problem with the election came to the City Clerk's
attention. A portion of the electors in County Precinct 411 did not receive Englewood ballot
questions. It would appear that some 900 electors did not receive ballot questions in this
Precinct. Although there were approximately 900 eligible voters only 79 voted on the other
ballot issues that they did receive and no one in Precinct 411 requested a replacement
ballot .
We have discussed this matter with the County Clerk and have come to a joint conclusion
that the 79 votes would not impact Englewood's ballot issues, nor would it affect the Council
races . The City and the County are also in agreement that under C.R.S. 1-7 .5-110 a legal
challenge is not available for the election as the City Clerk and County Clerk acted in good
faith in complying with the statutes and with the rules promulgated by the Secretary of
State.
C.R.S. 1-7.5-110. Challenges . Votes cast pursuant to this article may be challenged
pursuant to and in accordance with law. Any mail ballot election held pursuant to
this article shall not be invalidated on the grounds that an eligible elector did not
receive a ballot so long as the designated election official for the political
subdivision conducting the election acted in food faith in complying with the
provisions of this article or with rules promulgated by the secretary of state.
The error in this case was not the fault of the City nor of the County but rather the company
hired to send out the mail ballots. Precinct 411 contains electors in the City of Englewood,
City of Greenwood Village, unincorporated Arapahoe County and several school districts.
This error has been rectified and should not occur in future elections .
cc: Doug Clark
Gary Kozack
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NO U-27 -1995 13 :59 FRO M ARAPAH OE CO UNTY CLE RK
November 27, 1995
ARAPAHOE COUNTY
CLERK & RECORDER
Donetta Davidson
P.O . Box 9006
L ittleton , Colorado 80160-9006
Lou Ellis, Englewood City Clerk
3400 S. Elati St.
Englewood, CO 80110
TO
U; l.395 Coorcilnated Hail Ballot E1ecti<m.
Dear Lou:
7891125 P.1212
Recording L303) 795-4520
E ~ect i ons (~03)_ 795-4511
Motor Vehicle (303) 795-4500
FAX# (303} 7S4~46~5
In reviewing the records of the 1995 mail ballot election and in
discussions with cities, school districts and special districts in
the County, the Arapahoe County Clerk's Office bas tentatively
confirmed that nearly all of the mail ballots were correctly
distributed in accordance with the official voter registration
records. Tbis eJtceptioual result is even more remarkable given
that it occurred shortly after the implementation of a new
computerized voter system in the County Clerk's office. For the
1995 election, the Arapahoe County C1erk's Oftice extended an offer
to all of the County's cities and districts to participate in a
coordinated mail ballot election, a move which saved all
participants some of the expense of running individual elections.
With the good news, the Clerk's Office also discovered that some
voters were mistakenly mailed incorrect ballots. Fortunately, the
system backups enabled the voters to exchange the incorrect ballots
for the correct ballots in the three weeks that elapsed between tbe
mailing of the ballots and the close of balloting. ~n all, only a
small portion of l precinct had errors, none of wbich caused any
problems with the integrity of the system or the reliability of the
official election results. To date, the Clerk's Office has been
able to confirm only the following discrepancies: One group of
Englewoo4 voters, believed to be approximately 79 voters, did not
receive ballots showing ba!lot issues trom the City of Englewood.
This error occurred in Precinct 411, a precinct that reported voter
turnout of less than 1% for this off-year election.
Arapahoe County pledges to eliminate all inaccuracies and intends
to work closely with all entities to ensure successful elections in
1996.
Thank you for participating in the 1995 mail ballot election and I
look forward to working with you in the future.
S)Jicer~~Y,
~a ~u~s"o,,...n~
Arapahoe County
Clerk & Recorder
TOTA L P.02