Voter Services and Reform

*The LWV of La Plata County will be at the Durango Farmers Market to register voters, distribute permanent mail-in ballot applications and offer general voter information every 2nd and 4th Saturday starting May 24 and going through the summer. Drop by and chat with us!

Upcoming Elections

*For information concerning 2008 elections, important dates and elected offices to be filled, click 2008 elections
*For information concerning federal, state and county district maps, click CO district maps
*To locate your precinct, voting location or caucus location, click precinct

LWV-US Election News

*March 2008: LWVUS has partnered with the Newspaper in Education Institute to publish and provide free of charge Electing the President. Using Electing the President, students will learn about all aspects of elections as required by state standards. Of course, voters will also learn a great deal about the election process as they prepare to make their choice for President. To access this 30 page pdf, cllick Electing the President and look for a copy to appear soon in your local newspaper.

*2/23/2008: Precinct Hiccups Blamed on Poor Training, Deborah Hastings, The Associated Press, WashingtonPost.com
There are an estimated 2 million poll workers, the largest one-day work force in the country, according to research published in September by electionline.org, a project of the Pew Center on the States. When things go awry at the voting booth, as they have several times in this hectic primary season, much of the blame often falls on ill-trained poll workers who are paid a pittance. Electronic voting machines have worsened the burden on poll workers, whose average age is 72.
For a view of the entire article, click AP2-23-08

*2/21/2008: Voters nationwide rely on the League to provide them with accurate, nonpartisan information on elections and the candidates. In response to questions from Leagues who are considering advertising and/or entering into partnerships with other organizations to produce their Voters' Guides, the LWVEF Board adopted "advertising guidance" last fall. This policy and many more tips and suggestions are included in the "Voters' Guides Best Practices." For a copy of the LWV-US Voters' Guides Best Practices, click best practices

*1/28/2008: A Message from our President, Mary G. Wilson:
The League is at the forefront of making election reform happen and making it work for all citizens.

To make sure all eligible voters are heard on Election Day, the LWVUS has adopted five core areas of election administration reform we are carrying out through our Public Advocacy for Voter Protection Project and other national efforts:

1-Opposing ID and documentary proof-of-citizenship requirements
2-Enhancing administration of statewide voter registration databases and guarding against wrongful or incorrect purging
3-Protecting voters against unnecessary restrictions on voter registration
4-Improving poll worker recruitment, training and supervision
5-Strengthening polling place management and ballot design
For more information on this subject, click LWVUS

Election Judge Information

*As you are aware, we expect a great turnout for the November elections this year. The League of Women Voters of La Plata encourages you to consider becoming an Election Judge for the upcoming November 2008 elections. What better way to show your interest in free and fair elections and to get paid for it as well! For more information on how you can be an Election Judge, click election judge

Electronic Voting News

*3/8/2008 Durango Herald: Counties fear costs of voting upgrades, by Colleen Slavin, AP Writer, Electronic machines require new software, for the article, click DH3-8

*3/6/2008 Durango Herald: Ballot measure moves forward, by Joe Hanel, Herald Denver Bureau, Bill allots $3.8M to help replace electronics with paper voting, for the article, click DH3-6

*3/5/2008 Durango Herald: Coffman recertifies machines by Colleen Slaven, AP writer, for the article, click DH3-5

*3/5/2008 Durango Herald: Voters' problems are few in 4 states with primaries by Deborah Hastings, AP writer, for the article, click DH3-5#2

*2/28/2008 Denver Post: Scanners used in 47 counties recertified for elections, COLLEEN SLEVIN,Associated Press.
For the entire article, click AP2-28

*2/27/2008 Durango Herald: Colorado Lawmakers announced a bill Tuesday requiring a mostly paper ballot election, to the dismay of many county clerks who had wanted either an all-mail ballot or greater use of electronic voting machines. For the complete story, click DH2-27

*2/26/2008 Some touch-screen voting machines OK'd; no word yet on counters,Colleen Slevin, Associated Press DENVER--Three types of touch-screen voting machines have been cleared for use in Colorado this year, but the jury is still out on some optical scanners used to count paper ballots. For the entire article, click AP2-26

*2/25/2008 Coffman recertifies touchscreen voting machines; scanners pending, COLLEEN SLEVIN, Associated Press, DENVER--Secretary of State Mike Coffman recertified three models of touchscreen voting machines Monday for use in this year's elections but he hasn't decided whether to authorize the use of two brands of optical scanners yet. For the entire article, click AP2-25

*2/24/2008 Durango Herald Election day could pose challenges for state's county clerks , Linda Daley, La Plata County Clerk and Recorder

*2/5/2008 NY Times 24 states head for the polls or caucuses today to pick their party's presidential candidate. Although no one is predicting serious voting problems, many voting officials acknowledge that it could happen. For the entire article, click NYT2-5-08

*1/17/08 Durango Herald a bipartisan group of Colorado Legislators introduced a bill Wednesday allowing Sec of State Coffman to retest and possibly recertify the electronic voting machines he disqualified last month. T oread the entire article, click DH1-17. To view the text of House Bill 1155, click HB1155.

*1/6/2008 New York Times Magazine After the 2000 election, counties around the country rushed to buy new computerized voting machines. But it turns out these machines may cause problems worse than hanging chads. Is America ready for another contested election? Click NYT1-6-08 to read more

*1/4/2008 Durango Herald Dozens of citizens came to the state capitol Thursday to give their opinions about how to run the 2008 election. Secretary of State Coffman wants to use paper ballots statewide, with limited use of electronic machines for disabled voters. For more of the story, click Herald 1-4-2008

*1/4/2008 New York Times Colorado's crash course in how to hold an election has begun. County Clerks, who administer the elections, are counting the days, and the dwindling options. For more, click NYTimes 1-4-2008

*12/22/2007 Rocky Mountain News Colorado County Clerks told legislators Friday to draft legislation making 2008 an all mail-in election, even though the secretary of state is resisting the idea. For the complete story, click RMNews 12-22-07

*12/19/2007 New York Times At a hearing at the state capitol on Tuesday, the Secretary of State, Mike Coffman, urged legislators to amend state law "due to extraodinary circumstances" so counties could fix the machines for next year's primaries on Aug 12 and the general election on Nov. 4. He asked lawmakers to allow counties to use a software patch that could potentially improve their electronic voting systems and suggested that once those improvements were made, testing data from other states be used to expedite the certification process in Colorado. To read the full story, click NYTimes 12-19-08

*12/18/2007 Ken Gordon, Majority Leader Colorado Senate, has announced a legislative hearing to be held on Dec 19 where Secretary of State Coffman will present his findings and recommendations. To read the detail of this announcement, click hearing.

*12/17/2007 Colorado Secretary of State Mike Coffman announced the results of the court-mandated retesting ("recertification") of electronic voting equipment currently in use in Colorado. Coffman's decisions were to decertify electronic voting machines from three of the the four national vendors including Sequoia, Hart and ES&S. Voting equipment manufactured by Premier (formally known as Diebold) passed all recertification tests. The decertification of machines will affect dozens of Colorado counties including Denver, Jefferson, Araphoe, Mesa and Pueblo. The decertified vendors as well as Colorado counties currently using machines from these vendors have 30 days to appeal the findings to Secretary Coffman. To read the Colorado State Press Release concerning this issue, click recertification. To read the Durango Herald article concerning decertification, click Herald voting.

Correspondence from our Members

1/25/08 Letter to the Durango Herald Editor from Marilyn Sandstrom, LWV-LPC VS Chairperson. February 5 is the Party Caucus date in La Plata County for Democrats and Republicans. Information is available from the LWV of La Plata County to determine your eligibility, your precinct number and location. To view the letter, click DH1-25-08

To view a few pictures from the recent (10/24/07) Bayfield School Board Candidate forum, click Bayfield pics

Judicial Selection News from Lois Carpenter Positions on the 6th District Judicial Performance Commission are expiring this fall and new Commissioners are needed. For more information, please click judicial selection.

Useful References & Links

*To search by state for specific voter information such as the facts about:
Absentee Voting, Ballot Measures,
Candidate Information, Early Voting,
Election Dates, Eligibility Requirements,
ID Requirements, Polling Place Details,
Provisional Voting, Resources and Links,
State Contact Info, Voter Registration,
Voting Machines
click VOTE411 sponsored by the League of Women Voters Education Fund

*For 8 steps on how to pick a candidate and vote, click pick and vote (courtesy of the League of Women Voters of Newton, Mass)

Past Events

*The LWV of La Plata will be at the Durango Senior Center on Monday, May 5 from noon to 1:00pm to assist La Plata County residents who want to register to vote and/or receive ballots in the mail for upcoming elections. To read more click registration

*3/18/08: LWV-La Plata hosted a Bayfield Candidate Forum for mayoral and trustee candidates in the upcoming election scheduled for April 1, 2008.
The Candidate Forum will occur Tuesday, March 18 at the Bayfield Middle School Cafeteria, 615 East Oak Drive from 6 to 7:30pm.The public is encouraged to come to meet the candidates and bring their questions! For a copy of the flier, click 3-18flier

Candidates for Mayor include Carol Blatnick and Rick Smith
Candidates for the three Trustee seats include Bob Piccoli, James Harrmann, Debbi Renfro, Bill Miller, Justin Talbot and Dan Ford (in ballot order)

*Results of La Plata County Candidate Forums for November 6 School Board elections were as follows:
*10/15/07: The League's School Board Candidate Forum for Durango, District 9-R, was also cancelled due to the death of candidate Mark Dold. Of the five open seats, only one of those was contested. That seat was being sought by Mark Dold and Padraig Lynch. Upon the tragic death of Mr. Dold the day before the scheduled Forum, the Voter's Service Committee agreed the Forum should be cancelled. Subsequently, the Board of Education of 9-R cancelled the election; there were no contested seats. Mr. Lynch will represent District A; Floyd W. Patterson, Jr., District B; Dave Farkas, District D; Wendy Rice, District G; and Tammy Capdevielle, for a two year term representing District E. They will be sworn in on November 13.
*10/16/07: The League's School Board Candidate Forum for Ignacio, District 11-JT, scheduled for October was cancelled at the request of Ignacio Administration due to the lack of any open seats. There were three candidates; Betty Jo Quintana, Chris Ribera, and Toby Roderick; for three open School Board positions.
*10/24/07: The League's School Board Candidate Forum for Bayfield, District 10-JTR, was held on the evening of October 24 at the Bayfield Library. The Forum was very well attended with more than seventy in the audience. The first speaker was Justin Clifton, Bayfield City Manager, who spoke of the Sanitation District topic on the Ballot. Linda Daley, La Plata County Clerk, and Donna Elder of Linda's staff, explained some of the difficulty in determining eligibility of voters' for this ballot issue. She recommended people call her office, 970-382-6280, or stop in her office if they have further questions. The Forum included three minute introductions by each of the five School Board candidates; Jeff Eckstein, Bill Faust, Susan J. Folk, Scott Kujath, and Donald Mooney. The candidates then responded to questions submitted by the audience, with each candidate given one minute to respond. The Forum concluded with a one minute summary statement by each candidate. These five candidates are contending for three open seats on the 10-JTR School Board. Mail-in only ballots must be in the County Clerk's office by 7 pm Tuesday, November 6. Thanks to Marilyn Brown, Pam Patton, Stephanie Huss, Lois Carpenter, Donna Hugg, and Marilyn Sandstrom for this successful event. Click Bayfield pics to view pictures from the forum.
*8/18/07 - Voter registration at the Durango Farmers Market Click Ellen Park and Marilyn Brown to view the registration.
*LWV of La Plata members registered voters at the Durango Farmers Market on the Saturdays of August 18 and 25 and September 8 and 15.
During this period, we registered from 15-20 new voters and distributed dozens of applications for La Plata County permanent mail-in ballots.
Additionally, we recruited three new members for the local League!
We consider this a good success in an off-year for elections and we will be back next year.
Our sincere thanks to the Durango Farmers Market!

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: May 13, 2008 08:06 PDT.