Mail Ballot Legislation
April 19, 2002 2:08 PM MST
I have been notified by Rep. Rob Fairbank that the Secretary of State has
asked that HB 1243 be killed. We thank you Rep. Fairbank.
Hallelujah! And, thank you team!
Sadly, this is not the end. It is, as they say, the end of the beginning.
The forces who want to seize control of the ballot box from the voters will
not give up here. To them, it is a strategic goal -- a guaranteed way for them
to win elections.
We expect a series of bills in behalf of the Secretary of State, the County
Clerks and those whose number one priority is the quantity of ballots
returned. These people openly confess that they are not deeply concerned
about accurate, fair, fraud-proof, secure, and intimidation free elections - our
number one priority.
Also, as you know, we are working to stop five (5) petitions that are being
planned by the Bighorn group for this summer. Bighorn is using every trick
imaginable to deceive voters into expanding the use of the mail ballot. They
offer to change the name of the unpopular "mail ballot" to "automatic absentee
ballot", remove the current restrictions which prohibit use of the mail ballot
for partisan contests (such as President of the United States), a Colorado
constitutional amendment to permit mail ballot for partisan elections, and a way
to legalize use of the current absentee ballot statutes to do exactly what the
mail ballot does.
We must be vigilant, and ready to act the minute we detect any more attempts
to steal our freedom and liberty by seizing control of the ballot box. During
the next couple of weeks, please:
- Be happy that 1243 is gone.
- Pass our "NO MAIL BALLOT
RESOLUTION"" at your caucus and assemblies.
- Do what you can to reject and
stop the Bighorn petitions.
- Talk to you legislators and
teach them what we have learned about the pitfalls with vote by mail
- Be ready to act at a moment's
notice.
What you have done thus far has paid off. Thank you for all of us.
Al
House Bill 1243 is a bad piece of legislation, and
should be withdrawn.
The Secretary of State, in collaboration with many
Colorado County Clerks, have undertaken an effort to expand the use of mail
ballot elections. Although they are responsible for the conduct of
accurate, fair and secure elections:
- They have ignored the hard facts, documented by
CAMBER workers, that irrefutably prove that mail ballot elections are not and
cannot be made accurate, fair, and secure.
- They have pressed for an agenda that emphasizes
voter-turnout and election-cost instead of accuracy, fairness, and security.
Turnout and cost are not important to the protection of our ballot box --
accuracy, fairness, and security are.
- They have tampered with records, refused access to
records, and not performed their duty to insure that elections are accurate,
fair, and secure.
The Secretary of State has requested Representative
Sinclair and Senator Nichol to co-sponsor HB 1243 which would further transfer
control of election results from the voter to the vote-counters. These
vote-counters include professional staff and equipment vendors both of whom
should have absolutely no say in election results.
CAMBER opposes further use of mail ballot elections,
until such time as somebody develops a provable process that is accurate, fair,
and secure.
Reasons to vote against HB
1243
-
Nobody has proven that mail ballot elections can be made
accurate, fair, fraud-proof, secure, and intimidation free. (Why not?)
-
Would authorize ballots without verifying that the
eligible elector cast the ballot. (Whose signature are they capturing?)
-
Restricts watchers from monitoring all election
processes. (What are they hiding?)
-
Authorizes County Clerks to pick their own employees to
serve as judges. (Fox in the henhouse.)
-
Voters must control election outcomes -- not bureaucrats,
not cheaters, and not vendors. (Why should we risk our freedom?)
For more reasons, click HB 1243.
Reference materials are:
HB 1243 A bill concerning mail ballot elections ...
Feb 20, CAMBER
letter to Colorado State, Veterans, and Foreign Affairs urging Committee to
defeat HB02-1243 Mail Ballots Signatures Watchers Judges
Feb 21, Dr.
Charles Corry to Colorado State, Veterans, and Military Affairs
urging Committee to defeat HB02-1243 Mail
Ballot Signatures Watchers Judges. Requires Acrobat Reader.
Mar 05, Sheila Horton to Rep.
Sinclair and Rep. Schultheis urging defeat of
HB-1243.
Mar 27, Horton and Kolwicz to Rep. Sinclair
urging you to eliminate mail ballot elections.
Mar 26, Thigpen to Rep. Sinclair object to
proposed handling of judges and watchers.
Mar 31, Dennis Ceremuga to
State Veterans and Military Affairs Committee members
urging defeat of HB-1243.
Apr 03, Alison ("Sunny") Maynard, Colorado
Attorney General candidate requests, "repeal all
mail balloting law, as well as tighten up considerably the absentee voting laws."
Apr 04, Carol Pfeffer to Rep. Sinclair et al,
asks,
Why
increase
voter rolls at the expense of real voters?
Apr 09, Steve Hatfield asks Rep.
Weddig to vote "no" on HB 1243 because it hampers
independent watchers.
Apr 12, June Tucker asks committee
to vote "no". "Why should we risk our
freedom?"
VOTE AGAINST
"House Bill 1243 Mail Ballot, Judges and Watchers"
billsinclair@qwest.net; davidschultheis@qwest.net;
billcadman@qwest.net;
billcrane@qwest.net;
fairbank@qwest.net;
repkelleydaniel@qwest.net;
michaelgarcia@qwest.net;
desireesanchez@qwest.net;
frankweddig@qwest.net
State, Veterans and Military Affairs Committee FAX
(303) 866-2218
Republican Members
WILLIAM D. "Bill" SINCLAIR
Chairman
Colorado State Representative
District 16 – El Paso
200 E. Colfax, Room 302
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: (303)866-2965
E-Mail:
billsinclair@qwest.net
Dave Schultheis
Colorado State Representative
District 22 – El Paso
PO Box 49282
Colorado Springs, CO 80949-0282
Cap: 303-866-2937
E-mail:
davidschultheis@qwest.net
Bill CADMAN
Colorado State Representative
District 15 - El Paso
200 E. Colfax, Room 300
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: (303)866-5525
E-Mail:
billcadman@qwest.net
BILL CRANE
Colorado State Representative
District 27 - Jefferson
200 E. Colfax, Room 201
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: (303)866-2962
E-Mail:
billcrane@qwest.net
ROB FAIRBANK
Bill Sponsor HB 1243
Colorado State Representative
District 30 - Jefferson
200 E. Colfax, Room 314
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: (303)866-2927
E-Mail:
fairbank@qwest.net
Democrat Members
KELLEY DANIEL
Colorado State Representative
District 23 - Jefferson
200 E. Colfax, Room 307
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: (303)866-2951
E-Mail:
repkelleydaniel@qwest.net
Michael Garcia
Colorado State Representative
District 42 - Arapahoe
200 E. Colfax, Room 271
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: 303-866-3911
E-Mail:
michaelgarcia@qwest.net
DESIREÉ SANCHEZ
Colorado State Representative
District 2 - Denver
200 E. Colfax, Room 301
Denver, CO 80203
Phone: (303)866-2911
E-Mail:
desireesanchez@qwest.net
FRANK WEDDIG
Colorado State Representative
District 43 - Arapahoe
200 E. Colfax, Room 271
Denver, CO 80203
Capitol Phone: (303)866-2942
E-Mail:
frankweddig@qwest.net
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