Not enough info. is given regarding the people doing the counting and the circumstances under which they were counting etc. -- i.e. how many hours did each counter work for? How often did they take breaks? My experience is that no one should count more than 45 min. without a 15 min break, and then they should not count for more than 4 hours in a row in total.
Tthe fact that 2 machines were used for scanning the ballots does not apply to all machines in all elections. Software & firmware can have undetectable malicious code, blah,, blah blah.
Bob, however, has an interesting history...
Bob is gung-ho on the "voter fraud" bandwagon -- a quick google turned this up:
http://adm2.elpasoco.com/countypress/default.asp?ID=1546&itla=CAR&selectdept=CAR&selecttime=current&offset=10Election Law Violations Being Prosecuted
District Attorney’s Office Diligent
July 28, 2005 – Colorado Springs, CO - El Paso County Clerk and Recorder’s office reports that Election law violation cases continue to be prosecuted due to a cooperative effort with the El Paso County District Attorney’s office.
Recently, one individual who was charged with voting twice in the November 2005 Presidential Election pled guilty to a misdemeanor, while another charge of declaring a false residency (a felony) was dropped. The sentence included a $5,000 fine and a one year jail sentence (both of which were suspended), along with a requirement of 48 hours of community service and 12 months probation and $198.50 in court-related costs.
According to Robert C. “Bob” Balink, El Paso County Clerk & Recorder, “It is important to note that only one of the two ballots cast by this young women was counted…the vote here in El Paso County.”
Two others cases, both involving felony forgery charges arising from fraudulent Voter Registration Drive activities, have been working through the legal process.
Today, one individual who worked for the “New Voters Project” and was charged with multiple counts of election fraud pled guilty to one charge of forgery (a Class V felony), and was sentenced to 2 years probation, 200 hours of community service, and was ordered to pay $322.50 in court-related costs.
“Election fraud undermines our democracy, and we take the matter very seriously. The El Paso County Clerk & Recorder Bob Balink is extremely diligent in reporting these offenses and providing supporting documentation, which facilitates prosecution,” said District Attorney John Newsome.
Another case involving 19 counts of forgery by an individual associated with “ACORN” is pending further court appearances. ACORN is an acronym for the “Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now.”
snip
And then this letter from the NAACP
http://coloradoconfidential.com/showDiary.do;jsessionid=76EF666297C182459AD28766EDE575E0?diaryId=3449Proof of Citizenship Would Threaten Voting Rights
Voters should be alarmed by El Paso County Clerk and Recorder Bob Balink's proposal that people registering to vote provide proof of citizenship. Although showing proof of citizenship might sound reasonable at first glance, such policies have only one effect: suppressing the constitutional voting rights of American citizens, especially the elderly and minorities and those with low incomes. Many people simply don't have their birth certificate, which can be very difficult to obtain for people with limited resources.
Recent studies, such as those conducted by the Brennan Center for Justice at the New York University School of Law, have explored the questions of who has proof of citizenship and whether voter fraud by noncitizens is a problem that threatens election integrity in the United States.
The studies found that 7 percent - or more than 13 million Americans - do not have ready access to the documents that can definitively prove citizenship: a birth certificate, naturalization papers or a U.S. passport. Not surprisingly, the studies also found that those who most often lack proof of citizenship are poor, elderly or from racial and ethnic minority groups.
Furthermore, studies show that requiring proof of citizenship appears to do nothing to ensure election integrity while negatively impacting civic participation. In Arizona, for instance, the only state that currently requires proof of citizenship, 35 percent of new registrants in the most populous county were rejected in 2005, and 17 percent were rejected between January and September 2006. Most are presumed to be legal citizens who did not have the required documents.
We write on behalf of a coalition of local civic-minded organizations that believe the rights of so many legal citizens should not be sacrificed when there's not one single documented case of a non-citizen attempting to register and vote in the state of Colorado - much less El Paso County.
The right to vote is a cornerstone of democracy. Our elected county clerk and recorder should be in the business of defending that right, not creating barriers for legal voters. The current system of verifying voter citizenship by way of sworn affidavit is working. In the absence of any evidence to the contrary, we ask Balink to shelve this discriminatory proposal.
Rosemary Harris
President, Colorado Springs Branch NAACP
Barb Ferrill Van Hoy
Executive Director, Citizens Project
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