Hello Dan [Gould, Democratic Chair] and everyone,

[Dan,] You preface what you say here with "I believe." Do you think
that belief is a scientific basis for a legal conclusion? 

As was implied to the canvass board by Clerk Hall in her July 3
Boulder County 2014 Primary Election Reconciliation Report, despite
our statutory requirement,** we cannot know the number of votes cast
when the election is conducted by mail. Thus we must go by the number
received. And how can we know that?

In the 2014 Primary, as in 2012's elections, the clerk presented the
purported results to the canvass board without the requisite and
much-requested chain-of-custody data. Without such fundamental
information, the results are no more credible than just what would
come out of a black box. The majority refused to certify because the
law requires them not to "review" but to reconcile the results
(ballots counted) with the input (ballots cast [received] and voters
who voted). 

It seems that the minority felt that if the arithmetic was correct,
the source of the numbers was immaterial so a rubber stamp was all
that was needed. (And when the canvass board members receive the final
numbers with only two hours to analyze them and compare them to even
the sparse data that was previously distributed, let alone what was
requested, who can say whether the arithmetic was correct?) This
divergence of opinion on the Boulder County Canvass Board is likely to
haunt the November General Election as well, unless changes in
procedures are instituted.

=====================================================================
    **Colorado Revised Statutes

    1-10-101.5. Duties of the canvass board.
    (1) The canvass board shall:

    (a) Reconcile the ballots cast in an election to confirm that the
number of ballots counted in that election does not exceed the number
of ballots cast in that election;

    (b) Reconcile the ballots cast in each precinct in the county to
confirm that the number of ballots cast does not exceed the number of
registered electors in the precinct; and

    (c) Certify the abstract of votes cast in any election and
transmit the certification to the secretary of state. A majority of
canvass board members' signatures shall be sufficient to certify the
abstract of votes cast in any election. When unable to certify the
abstract of votes by the majority of the board for any reason, the
canvass board shall transmit the noncertified abstract of votes to the
secretary of state along with a written report detailing the reason
for noncertification.
=====================================================================

I think that rather than change statute, which is difficult, we should
work together to see what steps could be taken as a Best Practice to
certify mail ballot elections.

Thank you to all who have expressed concerns on either side. Please
let me know if you would like to be included in an effort to develop
and implement a Best Practice.

Mary C. Eberle
1520 Cress Court
Boulder, CO 80304
303 442-2164

EOF